Cell Phone Contracts in Austria to Become More Expensive From April
Existing cell phone contracts will become up to 11.5 percent more expensive for many customers in April. Drei and A1 have already confirmed price increases in charges, the Chamber of Labor (AK) said in a press release.
According to the Chamber of Labor, many mobile service contract customers will see their existing contracts increase in April. / Picture: © Wikimedia Commons / Kārlis Dambrāns / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)
Inflation is now also hitting phone calls and surfing in full. Many cell phone contracts contain value retention or index adjustment clauses that allow cell phone providers to adjust certain charges to the consumer index.
The Chamber of Labor has already requested information from Austria's largest telecommunications carriers. According to AK, Drei and A1 confirmed the price increase, while Magenta was still keeping a low profile. Drei would raise charges by 8.5 to 11.5 percent, depending on the rate, and A1 by 8.5 percent.
According to the Chamber of Labor, A1 will raise prices by 8.5 percent starting April 1, according to its general terms and conditions. This will affect basic and service charges (but also certain rate options such as cell phone guarantees). Customers will find the info on their bills.
Drei will also adjust its base fee as of April 1, according to AK, by between 8.5 and 11.5 percent depending on the rate. Phone rates will cost an average of EUR 2.20 more per month, and data rates an average of EUR two more per month. Customers will find the information on their bills and on the web, including an indexing calculator.
Inquiries were also made with smaller providers. These mobile providers, such as Hot, Spusu, georg, krone mobil, kurier mobil, yooopi. wowww, Simfonie, Rapid mobil, Raiffeisen mobil, or LiWest, had no clauses in their contracts that would allow these index adjustments. In mid-January, however, Yesss introduced index adjustment clauses in new contracts.
According to an ECJ ruling, consumers do not have a special right of termination in the event of price increases based on value adjustment or index clauses. When looking for a new cell phone carrier, the Chamber of Labor itself recommends that you check out smaller providers as well. It is common for these to not provide for index adjustment in their rates.