Netflix prices illegal? Court orders refunds in Italy

Luca Fontana

7-4-2026

Translation: machine translated

Italy leads the way: A court in Rome has declared Netflix's unilateral price increases since 2017 to be unlawful. The judgement could send a signal for the whole of Europe - including Switzerland.

Netflix really only knows one direction - raise prices, ignore complaints and carry on. A court in Rome has now shown the company that this doesn't always work out.

In concrete terms, a judge has upheld the complaint by the consumer organisation Movimento Consumatori and ruled in its favour: The terms and conditions that allow Netflix Italia to increase prices at any time violate Italian consumer protection law. This law does not permit unilateral contract amendments without good cause.

The increases in question are those from 2017, 2019, 2021 and November 2024, which Netflix apparently did not justify well enough. Anyone who was affected by these price increases will now not only receive a price reduction to the current monthly fee, but also a refund of the wrongly paid amounts and possibly even compensation.

Up to 500 euros per household

This could be very expensive for Netflix: In Italy alone, Netflix has grown from an estimated 1.9 million subscribers in 2019 to around 5.4 million in October 2025, according to the consumer organisation. Those who have paid for the Premium plan continuously since 2017 will be able to claim up to 500 euros back and pay just 11.99 euros for the plan instead of 19.99 euros. The price of the standard plan, on the other hand, will fall from 13.99 to 9.99 euros, while the refund would amount to around 250 euros.

It is difficult to extrapolate the refunds. However, the total sum is likely to be in the hundreds of millions - excluding damages.

An interesting fact: the court ordered Netflix to publish the judgement on its own website and in national newspapers and to actively inform all those affected - including former customers - about their rights to a refund.

Netflix itself is not very impressed. The company is « convinced that its general terms and conditions have always complied with Italian law», the company told the news agency Reuters and announced its intention to appeal. The judgement is therefore not yet final. Nevertheless, Movimento Consumatori is piling on the pressure: if Netflix does not lower its prices immediately and compensate its customers, it will file a class action lawsuit.

Not an isolated case: Germany leads the way

What is currently making headlines in Italy has long been a reality in Germany: As early as 2023, the Berlin Court of Appeal declared Netflix's price adjustment clauses to be inadmissible - unilateral price changes are only permitted for current contracts if they follow fair and transparent rules.

The German Federal Court of Justice confirmed this line at the beginning of 2025 when it failed Netflix's attempt to appeal the judgement. In May 2025, the Regional Court of Cologne followed with another judgement: the price increases from 2017, 2019 and 2021 were unlawful - the pop-up windows with the «agree» button were also not considered valid contractual offers. Netflix had to repay around 200 euros to one plaintiff.

One.

The crucial catch: the judgement only applies directly between the parties. Anyone who wants their money back must take action themselves. So there are millions of people potentially affected in Germany, but hardly anyone complains. This is precisely why consumer protection organisations are now trying to increase the pressure and find a broader solution - similar to what Movimento Consumatori has done in Italy.

And Switzerland

This is where things get more complicated. The Foundation for Consumer Protection has already criticised Netflix's pricing policy in Switzerland on several occasions - the standard Swiss subscription costs significantly more than in neighbouring countries, although streaming services such as Netflix according to consumer protection «have virtually no local costs». Nevertheless, no comparable lawsuit is pending.

The reason probably lies in Swiss law. The ban on geo-blocking, which has obliged foreign online shops to treat Swiss customers equally since 2022, explicitly does not apply to streaming services such as Netflix.

In short: Netflix is legally in a comfort zone in Switzerland. Whether Swiss contract law nevertheless offers a defence against unilateral terms and conditions clauses - as German law does - would be an exciting question for local consumer protection. In principle, the following also applies in Switzerland: if the contract or the general terms and conditions do not contain anything about price increases, they are invalid. Whether this applies to Netflix's specific clauses has so far not been examined by any Swiss court.

The judgement in Rome could therefore be the starting signal for a European debate. And Netflix - which has just raised its prices in the USA for the second time since the beginning of 2025 - is likely to keep a close eye on how far this domino effect spreads.

Luca Fontana

Senior Editor

Luca.Fontana@digitecgalaxus.ch

I write about technology as if it were cinema, and about films as if they were real life. Between bits and blockbusters, I’m after stories that move people, not just generate clicks. And yes – sometimes I listen to film scores louder than I probably should.

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