Ofcom is to clamp down on 'hidden' charges which are being passed on to customers by ISPs.

The industry watchdog said that it had recorded a surge in complaints from customers who were angry about extra hidden charges for services such as non-direct-debit payment and premium-rate technical helplines.

For example last June Virgin Media switched its broadband technical helpline to a premium-rate number charging 25p a minute. The justification for this was that it claimed that this was necessary to deter customers from calling about non-broadband issues, but the move penalised those with legitimate problems.
Other examples are Orange who charge an administration fee of £3.50 a month for not paying by direct debit,  while Virgin Media charges £5 a month and BT has a fee of £4.50 per quarter.

As the broadband market in the UK is so competitive with margins constantly being slashed, and more competitive bundles trying to attract customers it's not surprising that companies try to use 'stealth charges'. Hopefully Ofcom can bring these to the attention of customers before they find out of the charges the hard way.