Subscribers of streaming services certainly are sick and tired of price hikes, yet users often have little recourse other than simply canceling their accounts. But for users in Italy, they may soon receive some monetary compensation for nearly a decade’s worth of price jumps.
A court in Rome has ruled that Netflix’s subscription price increases in Italy over the past seven years were illegal, declaring them void under the country’s consumer protection code and ordering the company to reimburse affected subscribers.
There are roughly 5.4 million Netflix subscribers in Italy, or about 2% of its 325 million global total, according to Italy’s communications authority.
The ruling, brought forward by consumer advocacy group Movimento Consumatori, found that Netflix violated Italian law by raising fees between 2017 and January 2024 without providing valid justification to subscribers. Under the decision, Netflix must reduce current subscription fees to pre-hike levels; reimburse overpaid amounts; and publish notice of the April 1 ruling on Netflix Italia’s website as well as in major national newspapers.
According to lawyers representing the consumers, unlawful increases on the Premium plan across 2017, 2019, 2021, and 2024 total roughly €8 ($9.22) per month, while Standard plan overcharges amount to €4 per month. A Premium subscriber who has paid continuously since 2017 could be entitled to approximately €500 ($577) in refunds, with Standard subscribers eligible for around €250 ($288). Netflix has been given 90 days to comply, facing a daily fine of roughly €700 ($800) for delays, though the company’s planned appeal could postpone enforcement.
A Netflix spokesperson told Fortune: “We will file an appeal against the decision. At Netflix, our members come first. We take consumer rights very seriously, and we believe our terms have always been in line with Italian law and practices.”
According to Italian consumer law, companies cannot unilaterally alter subscription prices without stating a legitimate justification in the contract. Netflix’s terms, the court found, included only generic price-change clauses that gave subscribers the option to cancel but never articulated specific reasons for increases. Under Italian and broader EU law, the freedom to cancel is not the same as consent to new terms.
Movimento Consumatori president Alessandro Mostaccio said more than 25,000 Netflix subscribers had filed complaints with the organization over the years about the price increases. He warned that if Netflix fails to promptly lower prices and issue refunds, the group would initiate a class action lawsuit to reclaim the funds.
Meanwhile, the Netherlands has recently started a similar class action suit against the company. Germany and Spain have already filed legal challenges invoking the same 1993 EU directive on unfair contract terms. Courts in Berlin and Cologne have previously ruled that generic price-change clauses are void.
Netflix announced a global price hike across its three subscription tiers on March 26, just six days before the Italian ruling dropped.
