Ofcom starts looking into 'bill shock'
Ofcom have asked consumers if they have received a one-off unexpectedly high mobile, landline or broadband bill in the past 12 months.
The reason for this? Ultimately it boils down to what Ofcom do; in their words: 'further the interests of consumers and citizens in relation to communications matters'.
This particular concern has been raised directly by consumers complaining to Ofcom, but also through general media reports and even MP's. It is often relating to mobile phone bills, but they're widening their query to see if it's occurring frequently elsewhere in communication services.
'Bill shock' is when consumers can find themselves facing bills that far exceed what they are used to, or expect when using communication services which usage-based charging, which combined with the availability of a wide variety of services priced at different levels, some of which are used infrequently.
Ofcom are also looking at this from the Communication Providers perspective too in seeing what steps can be taken to protect consumers from this.
