Press & PR

A new study has found that the charges imposed by home phone companies on those not paying by direct debit are costing UK consumers as much as £75 million.

The uSwitch report states that additional charges imposed by telecoms providers for those who wish to receive paper bills amount to around £141 million.

As a result of the charges, around 13 million people are paying over the odds because they haven't changed the way they receive and pay bills.

Steve Weller, head of communications services at uSwitch, comments: "It would be interesting to see whether the costs incurred by the companies for providing paper billing are proportionate to the excessive charges being levied on customers."

He added that despite the environmental benefits of online billing, only around half the UK population currently has a broadband connection.

People who do have a broadband connection may find they can avoid costly telephone bills and other charges by switching to Vonage's VoIP service.

A recent statement from UK payments association Apacs has expressed opposition to BT's non-direct debit costs policy on the grounds that it is a disproportionate charge.