Citizens Advice urging broadband providers to be more transparent with pricing

Citizens Advice is calling on broadband operators to provide more transparency with their prices and claims that the Government should inspect firms, BBC News reports.

The move follows the charity's investigation which found that over a third of customers are unaware that the cheapest broadband prices increase by an average of 43%, equivalent to £113 a year, once introductory deals have ended.

The price hike is seen as a 'loyalty penalty' for customers who stick with their provider.

When compared to the average price customers were paying in 2011 to remain on the same broadband deal, the price hike has now risen five-fold.

According to the charity, four of the five biggest internet service providers imposed 'loyalty penalties':

• BT 12-month contract: £198 – an increase of 67%

• Sky 12-month contract: £120 – an increase of 53%

• EE 18-month contract: £90 – an increase of 36%

• TalkTalk 24 month-contract: £66 – an increase of 28%

The only one found not to impose a loyalty penalty on customers entering a second year of the contract was Virgin Media's 12-month plan.

Chief Executive of Citizens Advice, Gillian Guy, commented: 'Loyal broadband customers are being stung by big price rises once their fixed deal ends.

'The Government has rightly put energy firms on warning for how they treat loyal customers – the actions of broadband firms warrant similar scrutiny.'

According to Citizen Advice's research, older people and poorer customers are the most likely to be victims of such charges as, generally speaking, they stay with the same supplier for longer than other customers.

The charity's survey, which questioned 3,000 customers, found that broadband customers over the age of 65 were more than twice as likely as younger customers to stay on the same contract for over 10 years.