Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-01-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department or Ofcom has made an assessment of the cost drivers behind BT’s recent 50 per cent increase in charges for non-payment by direct debit.

Mr Edward Vaizey

BT’s charges to business customers for payments made other than by direct debit increased on 1 October 2015. It a commercial decision for providers such as BT to determine these charges, however, telecoms providers are regulated and monitored by Ofcom, who review customer satification on a rolling basis. Since January 2014, small business customers (with ten employees or fewer) affected by a mid-contract price increase may be able to leave their contract without penalty under Ofcom rules. Further information about this is on Ofcom’s website (http://consumers.ofcom.org.uk/ofcom-for-business-consumers/business-contracts).

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