T-Mobile is upping a fee for all customers starting next month.
From November 1, customers who do not pay their bills on time will be charged a late fee of $10, up from $7. Or, if 5 percent of the past due balance is more than $10, customers will be charged that sum.
Customers in Maryland, New York and Washington D.C. may pay less, however, as their state laws cap late fees.
The last time T-Mobile increased its late fee was in 2022, when it increased from $5 to $7 -- or 5 percent of the monthly charges.
'Late fees can be avoided by paying your bill by the payment due date or setting up AutoPay, which can be through your account online or in T-Life [mobile app],' the company website reads.
This change has received an angry response from some customers online, who argue that it is targeting the most vulnerable at a time when costs are increasing for services across the board.
'Obviously this isn't an issue if you pay your bill on time,' one customer wrote on Reddit.
'But now with how everything has gone up, this feels like it's feeding upon those who might have trouble paying their bill one month or they lose their job and have a hard time paying.'
From November 1, customers who do not pay their bills on time will be charged a late fee of $10
Another person said that they had canceled their account with the cell phone company as a result of the higher fee.
'I canceled and switched to Verizon today. Been waiting for an excuse,' a former customer wrote on the social media site.
'This is pure nonsense targeting poor people from a nearly trillion dollar company.'
Others were less concerned about the change, however.
'Is there a problem? You can avoid the fee by paying your bills on time,' another person said.
According to JD Power, the average cell phone bill is now $144 a month.
The fee change will come into place on the same day that T-Mobile's new CEO, Srini Gopalan, takes over.
Gopalan, the current Chief Operating Officer, is taking over the role from Mike Sievert who has been running the company since 2020.
This change has received an angry response from some customers online, who argue that it is targeting the most vulnerable Americans
The fee change will come into place on the same day that T-Mobile's new CEO, Srini Gopalan, takes over
'I couldn't be more excited to announce Srini Gopalan as our next CEO,' Sievert said after the announcement in September.
'When I recruited Srini to be our COO, I knew he had the skills, experience and Un-carrier mindset to lead our company into the future.'
Shortly after the company announced the new CEO, leaked documents revealed that T-Mobile planned to make various major changes.
The firm plans to make customers dependent on its mobile app, T-Life, for services such as upgrades and account activations by January 2026, according to The Street.
The company also reportedly plans to start accepted damaged or broken devices as trade-ins.