Your Carrier Is Raising Your Plan Price in 2026: The 4-Month Window to Leave Free of Charge

Introduction: "Your plan is evolving" — translation: +€3 a month

The text message arrives on a Tuesday morning, somewhere between a banking notification and a weather alert. "Good news: your plan is evolving! As of 15 November, you get an extra 20 GB. The price of your plan rises to €22.99/month. More information in your customer account."

You skim it, you register "good news", you move on. Four months later, while going over a bank statement, you discover that your €19.99 plan now costs €22.99 — that's €36 more per year — for 20 GB you have never used. And the deadline to refuse has passed.

This scenario is anything but anecdotal in 2026. Since the French market was reshaped around the SFR takeover, the average price per gigabyte has been climbing for the first time in a decade, and carriers have gone back to a habit they had dropped during the price-war years: unilaterally changing plans that are already running. Arcep notes it in its quarterly tracking: the average mobile bill per subscriber, which had been falling mechanically since 2012, has reversed course.

The good news — the real one this time: French law protects you very well, far better than carriers' text messages would suggest. You just need to know the statute, the deadline, and exactly how to invoke it. That is what this guide is for.

The provision that changes everything: Article L.224-33

Everything rests on one article of the French Consumer Code, L.224-33, applicable to electronic communications services. Its principle is simple:

Any proposed change to the contractual terms must be communicated to the subscriber at least one month before it takes effect, together with information that, as long as they have not accepted the change, they may terminate the contract free of any charge or penalty and without any right to compensation, up to four months after the change takes effect.

Three figures to remember, and they are the only ones that matter:

Item	Legal rule
Carrier's notice period	1 month minimum before it applies
Window to cancel free of charge	4 months after it takes effect
Termination fees owed	Zero, including during a commitment period

That last point is the one advisers most often "forget" over the phone. Even if you are on a 24-month commitment with a subsidised handset, a unilateral change to the contract opens the right to leave without penalty. The legal reasoning is airtight: you signed up for a given contract, the carrier changed it, and you are not bound by a contract you never signed.

Careful: the outstanding balance on the handset is still owed

A crucial nuance. If your plan was bundled with the purchase of a smartphone paid in instalments ("phone for €1 + 24 monthly payments"), the credit tied to the handset is legally distinct from the telecom subscription. Termination fees disappear; the handset balance remains due and will be billed in one go. Check that amount in your customer account before slamming the door: leaving "free of charge" can cost €280 in one hit if you are only halfway through the phone payments.

Which changes actually trigger the right to leave

Not all changes are equal. Here is how to read them.

These do open the right to cancel free of charge:

• A price increase on the subscription, even by €1, even if "offset" by extra gigabytes.
• A reduction in service: monthly data cut back, international calling destinations withdrawn, roaming allowance trimmed, removal of an included service (cloud, music, press).
• An unfavourable change to the general terms: throttled speed cap after a certain usage, charges for previously free services, a change to the notice period.
• The introduction of new fees (paper statement, administration fee, eSIM activation fee).

These do not:

• A purely favourable change with no price consequence (data doubled at an unchanged price).
• An increase provided for in the contract from the outset under a clear, quantified indexation clause (rare in mobile, more common in fibre).
• The end of a promotional discount announced at sign-up: going from €9.99 to €19.99 "after 12 months" is not a change to the contract, it is the contract being performed. It is also misunderstanding number one.

The sneaky case in 2026 is the increase dressed up as an upgrade. +€3 a month, +20 GB, +5 calling destinations. The carrier markets it as an enriched offer; legally, it is an unfavourable price change, and your right to cancel is intact. The fact that the service also improves neutralises nothing: all that counts is that you did not consent.

How to spot the announcement before it is too late

The weak point here is not the law, it is detection. Carriers do comply with the duty to inform, but they do the legal minimum: one text message, sometimes a line at the bottom of a bill, sometimes an email with a bland subject line ("Your plan gets a makeover").

A few habits that cost five minutes a quarter:

1. Read the amount, not the wording. Open every monthly bill and compare the total with the previous month. A €2 gap deserves thirty seconds of attention.
2. Set up a bank alert on your carrier's direct debits. Most banking apps can notify you as soon as a recurring debit changes amount.
3. Never delete your carrier's text messages before opening them. They are the proof of the notification date — and therefore the starting point of your four months.
4. Take a screenshot of the text message or archive the email. In a dispute, that is the piece of evidence that tips the file.
5. Note the effective date in your calendar with a reminder at day 90. That leaves you a month's leeway to act.

For those managing several lines (family, an elderly parent, self-employed activity), a filing binder for administrative documents with a "telecom" divider per line saves you hunting for the original contract on the day you need to prove what was signed up for. Paper filing may look old-fashioned; in a consumer dispute, it remains formidably effective.

The procedure, step by step

Step 1: check what you are really paying

Before cancelling, get the numbers out. In your customer account, note down:

• the price before and after the change;
• the announced effective date;
• your commitment end date, if you have one;
• any outstanding handset balance being financed;
• your actual usage over the last three months (data, out-of-plan calls).

That last point is the deciding factor: if you use 4 GB a month, the enriched €22.99 offer is a bad deal and leaving is the obvious move. If you are on 60 GB and hitting the limit every month, the increase may still be competitive.

Step 2: get your RIO

Before doing anything else, dial 3179 from the line concerned (free, automated service available 24/7). You will receive your twelve-character RIO identifier by text. It is essential if you want to keep your number.

Never cancel directly with your current carrier if you want to keep your number. It is the new carrier that must trigger the number port; the old contract is then cancelled automatically. Cancelling yourself first means losing the number for good.