BT's £250m in 'stealth' price rises

TELECOMS group BT has been accused of sneaking in a series of price rises which are likely to rake in £250m a year.

Up to 20m customers will be affected by one or more aspects of the wide-ranging increases.

Line rental charges are going up by £1 to £10.50 a month for 11.5m customers, the cost of calling the speaking clock will double to 20p and other charges will jump 50%.

There will be a higher monthly charge for using the 1571 answerphone service and increased bills for families connected to the Home Highway Internet link.

The cost of BT's ring-back service will rise by 50% to 15p a time and there will also be a new 'convenience charge' for using the automatic ring-back option available with the 1471 service.

Changes to line rental will bring in an extra £138m alone, while the other increases are likely to add up to more than £100m.

The firm recently boasted that it was slashing call costs for millions of domestic customers by moving them on to a new tariff.

But it has now emerged that these reductions are being clawed back by the 'stealth increases' which are consigned to the small print of a mailshot being sent to customers.

The rises have angered consumer groups, which feel the company has tried to pull the wool over people's eyes.

They said cuts in call costs should be funded out of profits, which are running at £2bn a year, rather than from customers' pockets.

BT still controls some 70% of all domestic accounts - despite the privatisation of telecommunications 20 years ago - which gives the company a stranglehold.