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Mobile customers are being "ripped off" by operators who continue to charge them the full price of their contracts even when they have paid off the cost of their phone, says Which?
Some are potentially overpaying by more than £400 a year, according to the consumer watchdog.
Last year Ofcom asked operators to reduce prices to out-of-contract customers from February this year.
Operators, however, said they were offering customers plenty of choices.
Many customers choose to get a new smartphone through a monthly bill contract, effectively paying off most of its cost over a year or two. After the contract term ends, there is no longer a need to pay off a handset, so prices could drop.
But that is not always the case.
'Worst offenders'
According to Which, the worst-affected were customers of Three, where about four in 10 customers whose contracts ended in the last six months claimed they saw no price drop.
Two in five EE customers and three in 10 Vodafone users said the same.
On the other hand, O2, Tesco Mobile, and Virgin Mobile told customers that when their contracts ended their bills would reduce to the best available air time deal.
Examples are given by Which? included:
- an iPhone 11 from Vodafone which was £68.21 a month during the contract, £62 after it ended - but an equivalent sim-only deal was available for £30
- a Samsung S20 5G from EE was £69.25 in contract, dropping to £61 after, with a sim-only deal for £35
- an iPhone 11 from Three was £51.92 during the contract (including a discount for the first six months), £57 after contract, with an equivalent deal available for £22
Natalie Hitchins, head of home products and services at Which?, said: "While some mobile firms have taken action to end overpayments, our research suggests that others could do a lot more to ensure that customers are not being exposed to rip-off charges.
"Ofcom should ensure that all providers are treating their customers fairly and have taken enough steps to stop people overpaying.
"In the meantime, it is really important that customers don't wait. If you think you might be out of contract or overpaying, check your phone bills to see if you can save money with a sim-only deal or with an upgrade to a new phone."
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