The Money Saving Expert warned the Chancellor that customers with BT, EE, TalkTalk, Three and Vodafone all face rises of around 8% in April.
In his letter, Mr Lewis addressed the lifetime ISA penalty hitting young first time buyers, unfair Child Benefit rules penalising single income families, and substantial real term cuts to student living loans.
He also challenged the Chancellor to tackle mid-contract price rises.
The budget is just 6 weeks away. Today I sent the Chancellor, @Jeremy_Hunt a letter, on his request, to ask that he fixes:
– Unfair Child Benefit rules penalising single income families
– The Lifetime ISA penalty hitting young 1st time buyers
– Above inflation mid-contract… pic.twitter.com/ZVIt00Cq1p— Martin Lewis (@MartinSLewis) January 22, 2024
Mr Lewis said: “You have spent the past year focused on reducing inflation. Yet the policies of telecoms providers are both inflationary and anti-competitive.
“They bake into their contracts 3% or 4% above-inflation price hikes each year, which is, by definition, inflationary in its own right.
“Last April, the rise was 17% – now we’ve just learnt December’s inflation figures, which most base their rises on, meaning BT, EE, TalkTalk, Three and Vodafone have all just confirmed huge rises of around 8% for April 2024.
“Worse, this impacts those who are locked in the middle of their contracts, so cannot take advantage of the competitive market to ditch and switch.
“While Ofcom is consulting on proposals to only allow mid-contract rises laid out in pounds and pence in advance, that still allows above-inflation rises.
“Whereas best practice, if rises are to be allowed, is to have that system, but with an override saying it cannot be more than inflation.
“You kindly said you’d write to the Competition and Markets Authority about this if I presented evidence. I’ve enclosed info and date on this of mine, and additional evidence from Which?”
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