BT WAS criticised last week for introducing stealth charges for people who don’t pay by direct debit, despite announcing that profits leapt 13 per cent to £465m in the three months to December — or £5m a day, writes Ali Hussain.

The telecoms company is one of several utilities that penalise customers who choose not to use this method of payment.

From May, customers who pay by cheque rather than direct debit will be charged an additional £4.50 a quarter. The fee for late payment will also increase from £5 to £7.50. Customers who pay quarterly by debit or credit card are unaffected by the move.

Steve Weller of Uswitch.com, a comparison site, said: “Since January 2006 we have seen line rental rise from £10.50 to £11 a month, the introduction of per-minute rather than per-second billing and now these underhand charges.

“At a time when competition is thriving and prices for home phone and broadband are in freefall, these initiatives can only be attributed to keeping BT’s shareholders satisfied.”

Energy firms also penalise customers who choose not to pay by direct debit. The average bill sent by the “big six” energy suppliers, including British Gas and Powergen, is 6 per cent higher for customers who pay by cheque, according to research by Moneysupermarket, another comparison firm.

Some energy suppliers even penalise customers who do not adopt “dual-fuel” plans, where gas and electricity are supplied by the same firm. Npower, for example, pays an annual £60 bonus only to direct-debit dual-fuel customers, while single-fuel customers on direct debit earn £20 more. Powergen has a 3 per cent additional charge for non-direct-debit customers. This rises to 9 per cent if you are a non-dual-fuel customer as well.

Broadband customers also pay more if they shun direct debits.

Sky, one of Britain’s largest providers of broadband, charges an additional £4 a month to non-direct-debit users, while rival Virgin Media charges an extra £5 — a total of £60 a year. About 1.25m Virgin customers currently do not pay by direct debit, potentially netting the firm an additional £75m a year. Pipex, Talk Talk and BT charge an additional £1 a month.

Mobile-phone operators add between £2.55 and £3.50 a month for non-direct-debit customers, apart from O2, which charges the same.

Suppliers argue that direct-debit payments reduce admin costs. Steve Stewart of Virgin said: “We encourage customers to pay by direct debit, which is usually easier and more cost-effective for both parties.”