US streaming video site Netflix has been hit hard in Italy: A Rome court in Italy has sided with a legal action brought by local consumer rights group Movimento Consumatori, which accuses Netflix of unfairly raising subscription prices over the past few years.
Netflix has indeed raised subscription prices very frequently in global markets in recent years. Last week, Netflix just raised subscription prices in the US market. As far as the Italian market is concerned, Netflix has unilaterally raised subscription prices in 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2024.
Lawyers representing consumer rights groups argued that Netflix illegally charged 8 euros per month for premium users, 4 euros per month for standard subscribers, and 2 euros per month for basic subscription packages after the price increase in 2024.
The view of local consumer rights groups is that users who already subscribed to Netflix in 2017 and now pay 19.99 euros per month should continue to enjoy the same service at 11.99 euros per month (that is, the 2017 price).
The Roman Court ruled:Netflix (Italy) arbitrarily changed subscription prices and service terms from 2017 to January 2024 without providing legitimate reasons, which constituted an unfair agreement. These agreements violated Italian consumer law, so Netflix’s previous price increase plan was declared invalid.
The court also ordered Netflix to publish the ruling on its main website and in Italy's main national newspapers to inform all users, and consumer rights protection groups also asked Netflix to return all illegal income to users.
According to calculations by the consumer rights protection organization, Netflix standard package subscribers will be entitled to a refund of up to 250 euros (depending on the length of the user's subscription), but whether the refund can be refunded still needs to wait for the court's subsequent decision.
An official spokesperson for Netflix stated that the company will appeal to the court:We take consumer rights very seriously, and we believe that our terms of service have always been in compliance with Italian law and international practices.
Finally, the consumer rights protection organization also warned that if Netflix does not take immediate action to reduce subscription prices and refund all affected users, the organization will initiate a class action lawsuit to ensure that all users receive the refunds they should pay for Netflix's illegal price increases.