Ministers are urging telecoms companies to offer more discounted tariffs to low-income users as they seek to alleviate the cost-of-living pressures.
The Department for Work and Pensions is launching a scheme to enable internet and mobile service providers to check – with a customer’s permission – whether they are in receipt of a benefit which entitles them to a reduced rate. Virgin Media O2 has already signed up to the scheme and ministers are hoping that other providers will now follow suit, making it easier for claimants to take advantage of such offers.
Government figures show that while many providers already offer so-called “social tariffs”, the take-up rate is low with just 1.2% of those eligible applying.
Currently, claimants have to prove their entitlement as often as every month through methods such as sending screenshots of their Universal Credit account to their broadband provider or by providing a letter from the Jobcentre.
The Government’s cost-of-living business tsar, former Just Eat boss David Buttress, said: “Times are tough and families across the country are feeling the pinch, so we’re making it easier for companies to reduce phone and broadband bills for struggling families.
“Some of the biggest network operators have already committed to take advantage of this new scheme and we want to see other providers follow their lead so that everyone eligible for a social tariff can access one.”
