Mobile customers face ‘lose-lose’ choice of price rises or ‘crippling’ exit fees

Mobile customers face having to choose between “huge” mid-contract price rises or “crippling” exit fees from April, a watchdog has warned.

Ofcom recently proposed a ban on the practice of inflation-linked mid-contract price rises, saying that they cause “substantial consumer harm”, but this will not come into effect before the next wave of hikes in April.

h? said and O2 were expected to go ahead with price increases of up to 8.8% this April – the latest figure of 4.9% plus an “arbitrary” 3.9% – the highest hikes in percentage terms out of any of the major firms.