The Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) is investigating whether information about mid-contract price hikes should be clearly stated in telecoms ads across media, to avoid misleading consumers.
According to the advertising watchdog, many contracts for mobile and broadband services include price increases during the term of the contract.
With regards to CAP advertising codes, information about the nature of any price rise in an advertisement would clearly affect consumers’ decision-making and should be made ‘sufficiently clear’ to avoid misleading them.
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“Telecoms contracts are often complex products, and there are a range of factors to consider in determining what is likely to constitute sufficiently prominent presentation of information about mid-contract price rises in ads for such services,” CAP added.
“While a change to the advertised price during the term of the contract would be material information under any circumstances, in the current climate, rises in the cost of living mean that such increases are likely to have an even greater impact on consumers.”
The regulator will consult on a ‘set of principles’ that it considers likely to push telecoms ads to be more compliant with ad codes and less likely to toy with consumers about price increases.
The consultation will be open for responses from companies and members of the public until 17 November.
