Payment plan hits vulnerable

I wonder how many people saw the article (February 2) concerning the forthcoming BT quarterly rise of £4.50 to be levied against customers who pay their telephone bills by either cash or cheque.

They claim this increase will cover their costs when processing payments from people who do not use direct debit.

I believe this is a form of bully-boy tactics to try to coerce customers to switch their method of payment. Don't they realise that there are still people, especially pensioners such as me, who do not have access to a bank account, and building societies do not offer direct debit facilities.

These people are among the most vulnerable in our society as quite often this is their only helpline in so far as friends and other agencies can call and check they are all right.

BT try to justify this rise by claiming that non-direct debit customers will have their line rental reduced by £3 per quarter, so why don't they say that the rise will be £1.50, not £4.50?

I don't know what the direct debit customers will make of this unless they already receive a reduction.

However, this rise, effective from May 1, still amounts to an extra £6 per year, plus VAT, before any calls are made, and who knows where this will end.

How long before other companies jump on the bandwagon and decide they too want payments by direct debit. Next we could have the banks, who when they find out how much more of their time will be spent setting up and managing direct debit accounts, also decide to levy charges for the extra work.

Is there anyone out there in authority who would be willing to take up the cudgel on behalf of cash payers everywhere, and bring this insanity to an end before it sprirals out of control?

Eileen Jennings, Vicarage Road, Wednesbury.