Telephone surcharges increasingly frequent? The Agcom tries to protect consumers through a resolution that modifies the rules governing contracts between operators and users. Therefore, the increases that will start every year from April 2024 they will have to respect new rules. In particular, the increase in tariffs will be based on the official inflation index. Users, for their part, will be able to refuse these increases since they will have to give their explicit consent: this rule will be valid for all contracts that did not provide for automatic increases in any way. In this way, if the user does not give his consent, the contractual conditions already established will remain in force.
Operators, however, will be able to decide to link tariffs to inflation following the official index or provide minimum thresholds/extra price increases. Furthermore, they will be able to apply increases linked to inflation only twelve months after signing the contract. Among other things, they will have to guarantee a reduction in tariffs in the event of deflation. Furthermore, users, in addition to being able to count on the right to withdraw free of charge in the event of price increases, are also required to be informed in a clear and detailed manner before the conclusion of the contract.
In this sense, operators will have to clearly indicate information on the presence of presumed indexation clauses. In particular, operators will have to insert a table showing the increases in the fee for the following inflation indices: 2%, 3%, 4%, 5%, 6%, 7%. Finally, after two years from the signing, they will not be provided cancellation costs to operators in new contracts.
The commissioner Elisa Giomirapporteur, stated that “This is an unprecedented measure that protects all consumers with respect to the contractual conditions that operators apply to telephone and internet services, and which will give maximum guarantees starting from clear and exhaustive access to the information useful for stipulating contracts contracts. Users will finally be protected from automatic increases due to inflation and from withdrawal costs when they want to change operator”.
