The regulator said it has analysed customer complaints and other preliminary evidence and is “concerned that consumers who took out contracts between 1 March 2021 and 16 June 2022 may not have been provided with sufficiently clear information about in-contract price rises”.
Ofcom’s rules during that period require providers to set out potential future price rises in the terms of a contract prominently and transparently at the point of sale.
If a customer hadn’t agreed to in-contract price rises when signing up – because they hadn’t been made sufficiently prominent and transparent – providers should have notified customers of the price increase and offered them a right to exit penalty-free.
The regulator added that it may launch separate investigations into individual firms if it identifies specific issues with providers complying with these rules.
Detail on the enforcement programme can be found online here.