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Contract trap · Subscription

Unilateral price increase

The provider may change prices at any time or at each renewal ('at the then-current rate') with notice ranging from none to a few days, or a CPI/RPI + 3.9% formula raises the price inside a fixed term with no exit because it was 'in the contract'.

Severity
Serious
How often it turns up
Almost always
Holds up?
Depends where you are
Clause phrases
20

What it looks like in a contract

Redline matches these phrases against your document verbatim. Drafters rarely invent new wording — they copy it, which is why the same sentences turn up across unrelated contracts.

In English-language contracts

  • we reserve the right to change prices
  • at the then-current rate
  • at the rates in effect at the time of each renewal
  • price changes will apply no earlier than 30 days following notice
  • by continuing to use the service after the price change you agree
  • renewal price may differ
  • CPI + 3.9%
  • annual price increase in line with inflation
  • each April your price will increase by
  • subject to annual review

In Russian-language contracts

  • вправе в одностороннем порядке изменять размер абонентской платы
  • вправе изменять стоимость любых Услуг, заказываемых на новые периоды
  • по цене, действующей на момент продления
  • уведомление не позднее чем за три дня
  • оператор вправе изменять тарифы
  • путем размещения информации на сайте
  • новая стоимость применяется со следующего периода
  • ежегодная индексация тарифов
  • с учетом инфляции
  • стоимость может быть проиндексирована

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Why it bites

Renewal charges quietly grow year after year; 'then-current rate' means the price you agreed is not the price you pay; during 2022-2024 UK inflation CPI+3.9% produced double-digit rises inside 24-month telecom contracts with ETFs blocking exit.

Is it enforceable where you are

The same clause can be routine in one country and void in another. What follows is what the law says where you are — not advice on your particular contract.

In the US, ROSCA and state automatic-renewal laws such as California's ARL apply; in the EU, Directive 93/13 Annex 1(h) and national reminder rules (Germany §309 Nr. 9 BGB, France's loi Chatel) govern renewal.

United States

Generally enforceable with clear advance notice and a right to cancel; California ARL (B&P 17602) requires clear notice of material price changes, NY GBL 527-a requires notice of material changes; silent increases attract FTC Act §5 / state UDAP claims.

  • Cited
  • B&P 17602
  • FTC Act §5
  • GBL 527-a
  • UDAP

European Union

UCTD Annex 1(j)/(l): unilateral changes without a valid specified reason, or price increases without a right to cancel, are indicatively unfair; CJEU Invitel (C-472/10, 2012) and RWE (C-92/11, 2013) require a transparent reason and method plus a cancellation right; indexation allowed only if the method is explicit (Annex 2(d)); EECC Art 105 gives free exit on non-beneficial changes.

  • Cited
  • C-472/10
  • C-92/11
  • EECC
  • UCTD

United Kingdom

CRA 2015 Sch 2 paras 11-15; CMA37 requires a valid reason, notice and free cancellation; Ofcom GC C1 bans inflation-linked/percentage mid-contract rises for phone, broadband and pay-TV contracts from 17 Jan 2025 — rises must be stated in pounds and pence at the point of sale.

  • Cited
  • CMA37
  • CRA 2015 Sch 2 paras 11-15
  • GC C1
  • Ofcom

Russia

Telecom operators may change price with at least 10 days' notice (Правила оказания услуг связи), non-price terms only by agreement; ФАС sanctions unjustified rises by dominant operators; for other subscriptions the price for the next period may change with notice (Яндекс: 3 days) but ст. 16 п. 2 пп. 1 ЗоЗПП voids unilateral changes to a concluded period and the consumer may always exit (ст. 32).

  • Cited
  • ст. 16 п. 2 пп. 1 ЗоЗПП
  • ст. 32

Where this has actually happened

Regulator actions, court rulings and the contracts they were fought over.

  • ФАС v. МегаФон (unjustified tariff rise for 8.2M subscribers, avg +10.24%; case 2023-2024)
  • SiriusXM Customer Agreement (renews 'at the rates in effect at the time of each renewal')
  • Яндекс Плюс, Условия подписки п. 3.2 (одностороннее изменение абонентской платы, уведомление за 3 дня)
  • RWE Vertrieb AG v Verbraucherzentrale NRW (CJEU C-92/11, 2013) and Invitel (CJEU C-472/10, 2012)
  • Ofcom ban on inflation-linked mid-contract price rises (new contracts from 17 Jan 2025); BT/EE CPI+3.9% terms produced a 7.9% rise in April 2024

What to do

In order, from the thing that takes a minute to the thing that takes a letter.

  1. Check the notice period and whether you get a penalty-free right to cancel
  2. Prefer fixed pounds-and-pence changes or none
  3. When notified, compare and cancel before the effective date
  4. EU/UK: increases without valid reason or cancellation right are unfair (UCTD Annex 1(j)/(l))
  5. RU: одностороннее изменение цены для потребителя ничтожно (ст. 16 п. 2 пп. 1), telecom needs 10 days' notice.

Check your own document

Traps that travel with it

Drafters who use one of these usually use several.

79 traps · 1789 verbatim clause phrases