Vodafone has confirmed it is scrapping its "fair use" data policy, resulting in extra charges for mobile customers who go over their download limits.
The new fees will come into effect from June 1, with a real-time SMS service being set-up to inform customers when they exceed their included download limit.
The carrier said on its message boards that this new policy was being implemented “to make it fairer for everyone, and to protect our network from data abuse.”
"Whilst you’ve all previously been used to there not being any Out Of Bundle charging, the current information available online is clear in explaining that we could introduce such charging at any time."
Monthly bundle customers will now have to pay £5 for every excess of 500MB, while customers not on a monthly bundle will pay 50p for every 10MB after the first 25MB used.
The clarification comes as a number of Vodafone customers received text messages telling them they would be charged for excess data use this month, but the post confirmed that these messages "were sent in error and no more will be sent out from today."
Response on the forum has been less than supportive with a number of users saying they have switched carriers as a result of Vodafone's new policy.
One respondent noted," I can save £££ over the course of my 18 month contract if I move to another provider that is offering 500MB cap like Vodafone is now imposing on me."
T-Mobile currently offers 3GB on its £25 monthly plan, versus the now capped 500MB on Vodafone's £35 plan.
Are you a Vodafone customer affected by the price change? Leave us a comment and let us know.