Millions of Customers hit by per minute call charges.

Portlandbill

"Over 13 million telephone customers will be paying more for their phone bills as BT and TalkTalk return to charging by the minute.

BT customers will see a 28 per cent and TalkTalk customers a 30 per cent increase in the cost of daytime landline calls, warns price comparison website uSwitch.

The price changes were announced by both companies yesterday.

Chris Williams, uSwitch's telecommunications specialist commented: "BT is increasing bills by replacing per second billing with the old-fashioned and outdated per minute billing.

"BT's recent high profile promotion of their cost reduction exercise is now a seemingly redundant and hollow gesture for their millions of customers. TalkTalk has stuck by its promise 'to be cheaper than BT' but it is disappointing that they have mirrored these increases."

In addition to charging by the minute, BT will also add a 3p charge to connect the call.

This means the only BT call costs to stay at the same rate will be the fixed special rates, for example the 5.5p per hour evening rate of BT Together Option 1.

Mr Williams was critical of both company's reasons for making the changes.

"Both BT and TalkTalk stated that the changes have been made to make it easier for customers to understand their bills and call rates. The real reason is to increase revenue, without making any big changes to the 'headline' rates," he said.

Mr Williams concluded: "There is a wide range of choice in this highly competitive industry and in such a fast moving market we would urge everyone to make a habit of shopping around for the best deal. Households can save up to £1,207 per year by switching their home phone provider."