The advertising watchdog has issued six separate rulings to broadband firms BT, EE, Plusnet, TalkTalk, O2 and Virgin Media. The ASA said the firms must scrap adverts that mislead consumers about price rises during contracts.
In each case, ad campaigns run by the telecoms companies fell foul of new guidance added to the UK advertising code in December. The guidance sets strict rules about the prominence that must be given to important information about future price rises when customers sign up to contracts.
The ASA told all six providers to ensure they make sufficiently clear that broadband contracts would be subject to mid-contract price increases, and that information about the nature of such rises is presented prominently.
New rules from the telecoms regulator Ofcom kick in from January 2025. From next year, customers taking out broadband and phone contracts will see the price set out in pounds and pence, rather than having bill hikes linked to unpredictable inflation rates.
The ASA said: “All of the companies have fallen foul of guidance that sets stricter standards on the prominence advertisers must give to important information about future price rises.
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“Marketers are required to ensure that advertising for services that include mid-contract price increases… is presented clearly and prominently. The guidance also states that asterisks or links, which linked to information more than one ‘step’ below the price claim, were unlikely to give adequate weight to the significance of material information. We concluded that the ads are likely to mislead.”
Rocio Concha, Which?’s director of policy and advocacy, said: “Unpredictable mid-contract price rises are confusing enough for consumers without telecoms firms burying important information about them. It is positive that the ASA has made this ruling and the fact that it applies to most of the UK’s big broadband providers only serves to highlight how routine it has been for them to try and sneak these unwelcome hikes past their customers.
“Which? spearheaded the campaign for Ofcom to ban unpredictable mid-contract price hikes so that customers would have more certainty about pricing and could compare deals more easily. As these new rules take effect, telecoms firms must ensure any fixed yearly increases are featured upfront and clearly when customers sign up for new contracts and that any price increases are set competitively.”
