Update (May 5, 3:50 PM ET): Verizon has clarified in an email to Android Central that postpaid consumer customers will not be charged an economic adjustment fee and will see an increase in their bill's administrative fee of $1.35 up to $3.30. This will take effect for the June 2022 bill cycle.
Verizon has also clarified that business plans that meet certain conditions will see the economic adjustment fee. Those conditions include newly activated or upgraded lines, existing plans that have completed a contract-based line term, and lines that have 12 months or fewer remaining on a device payment plan.
The article has been updated with this information.
What you need to know
- Verizon is increasing fees for both business and customer accounts beginning in June.
- The cost of its plans will remain the same with a new “economic adjustment charge” and increased administration fee affecting the customers’ bills.
- Each voice line will be charged this additional amount so family plans will see a larger increase in cost.
If you're a Verizon Wireless customer, your bill is about to go up this June. Verizon is set to add an "Economic Adjustment Charge" to some business lines and an increased Administration fee for postpaid Verizon consumer customers. As reported by Bloomberg, this new charge will apply to both consumer and business accounts, though some business plans will have to pay a bit more.
Verizon is increasing its administrative fee for consumer lines by $1.35 to $3.30 for their June billing cycle. This charge applies to each voice line on the account, so if you've got more than one line with voice service, you'll be charged for each one. Business data plans will see a larger increase of $2.20, and basic plans will increase by $0.98 with the Economic Adjustment Charge.
This is the first time in two years that the carrier has increased and is linked to increases in inflation. Some customers on grandfathered Verizon plans have seen increases as late as 2021, according to 9to5Mac. The publication also noted that AT&T would be increasing prices for some legacy customers as well.
Speaking to Bloomberg last week, the head of Verizon Business, Tami Erwin, said:
"We’re all feeling the pressure and we’ve been in the process of deciding how much of that pressure we can share with our clients."
Despite the increase in the monthly cost of its plans to consumers, Verizon is not updating the price of its plans to reflect this new charge and will continue to advertise plans at the same rate.
While Verizon still has some of the best cell phone plans for features and coverage, there are quite a few more prepaid phone plans available to those looking to save on wireless plans. This includes the Verizon-owned prepaid brand Visible which offers unlimited data at a lower priority with all fees and taxes included with the price. While postpaid Verizon customers will enjoy higher-priority data speeds, many people will be more than happy with the speeds on prepaid plans.
