Ofcom to Investigate Telecoms Charges

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Wed 18th Jul 2007

Simon Wright, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Spokesman for Norwich South, has welcomed the decision by telecoms regulator Ofcom to investigate charges applied to customers by companies including BT.

Mr Wright wrote to Ofcom last month on behalf of BT customers in Norwich who complained about an additional charge on their bills when not paying by Direct Debit. In their response to Mr Wright, a spokesperson for Ofcom states:

"I can confirm that Ofcom has launched an industry wide review of additional charges made by communications providers on customers… The review will consider whether additional charges are sufficiently transparent, whether the charges or their levels are unfair and what action, if any, is necessary… We expect to announce the conclusions of our review in the Autumn."

Responding, Mr Wright said: "I am very pleased that Ofcom will be looking into the complaints that Norwich BT customers in particular have raised with me regarding increased charges on their bills for non-payment by direct debit. This charge has particularly hit elderly people - some of whom do not even have a bank account to choose to pay direct debits from."

"To many loyal BT customers who have always paid their bills on time, it seems very unfair that the company is now charging them a sizable fee just for paying their bills.

"This review must conclude whether the charges being applied by BT and other service providers can be justified and whether customers are being treated fairly."

A BT customer on the BT Together Option 1 who previously paid quarterly was billed £36 line rental, receiving a £3 discount if paying by DD. Since June, all customers are now billed £33 for rental, plus a £4.50 charge for non-DD payments.