An Italian court has ruled that Netflix’s price rises in the country are not legal, and that customers should get a refund.
On April 1, a court in Rome decided in favour of a consumer advocacy group that claims the streaming service broke local rules by raising prices to its service between 2017 and 2024. The group further claimed that customers were entitled to a refund, which the ruling agreed with.
Variety reported that Movimento Consumatori group said in a statement the court “considered Netflix’s price increases in Italy between 2017 and 2024 as a breach to the country’s national consumer code. That code states that price changes cannot be made unilaterally without stating a valid reason in advance. Italy’s consumer protection laws place a limit on the discretionary power companies have to raise prices to ensure it is fair”.
The court said Netflix has 90 days to comply with the ruling, or risk a penalty of €700 (£610) for each day of delay. However, Netflix said in a statement that they intend to appeal the decision, something that would halt any immediate action or reimbursement.
raising my price from free to free
— Tubi (@Tubi) March 26, 2026
Following the decision, legal representatives for the consumer group laid out what they believed subscribers were entitled to. “For the Premium Plan, the unlawful increases applied in 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2024 amount to €8 (£6.97) a month, while for the Standard Plan the total is €4 (£3.48) a month,” said lawyers Paolo Fiorio and Riccardo Pinna. “A Premium subscriber who has paid for Netflix continuously from 2017 to the present day is entitled to a refund of about €500 (£436), while a standard subscriber is due a refund of about €250 (£218).”
The ruling comes shortly after Netflix announced price rises in America, their second subscription hike in just over a year. The news was met with derision from social media users, while free-with-ads streaming service Tubi took a playful jab remarking: “Raising my prices from free to free”.
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