Rome Court has delivered an unfavorable judgment for Netflix in the dispute raised by Movimento Consumatori. The ruling dated 1 April 2026 states that some clauses used by Netflix from 2017 until January 2024 are considered unfair, hence illegal.
The core point of the dispute is the question of unilateral rights of the party to change the conditions set out in the agreement. The term ius variandi means that one party is entitled to modify the conditions or prices during the term of the agreement. According to the decision, Netflix overstepped its boundaries; it was making changes to the agreement but did not specify the reasons beforehand.
The company has expressed its intention to challenge the ruling. Its spokesman stressed that the company was concerned about consumer rights, which explains why it acted in accordance with Italian law.
In other words, the existing provisions were deemed insufficient since the defendants only notified the consumers about the change and granted them a right to cancel their subscriptions without explaining clearly which circumstances would result in price increase and service modification.
Thus, the court ruled that such contract clauses do not satisfy the requirements of reasonableness and balance.
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Accordingly, all price increases introduced by virtue of the terms and conditions mentioned above are to be deemed illegal. As a rule, this concerns hikes introduced in 2017, 2019, 2021, and at the end of 2024.
The court’s decision applies to subscribers who entered into the relevant contracts during the period ranging from 2017 to early 2024 and allows for receiving reimbursements of the additional charges.
Finally, the court assessed whether the revised clause 6.5 in January 2024 is balanced. In turn, this clause was valid up until April 2025 but did not satisfy the established requirements.
As can be seen, the decision differs dramatically when it comes to the latest modification, i.e. that introduced in April 2025. It satisfies the relevant requirements due to the fact that any future modifications shall be caused by certain reasons listed explicitly.
This is a critical decision for various reasons. It shows the distinction between past procedures and current ones. Previous agreements were not transparent. This contract complies with the rules set forth by consumer protection laws in Italy.
There are significant implications of this ruling. Many users will be impacted in the country. As reported by Movimento Consumatori, there was an expansion of Netflix’s customer database in Italy from approximately 1.9 million users in 2019 to almost 5.4 million at the end of 2025. They all faced constant rises in monthly costs year after year.
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According to the organization, premium customers experienced increased rates by approximately €8 a month. Standard customers incurred extra costs of almost €4. Long-time subscribers to the premium plan are eligible for a refund worth almost €500. For standard users, the refund amounts to €250. Basic users incurred additional costs by €2 towards the end of 2024.
In addition to the refunds, Netflix has been required to fulfill various actions by the courts. First of all, it is necessary to notify all the users, even those who have stopped using the service already, through email and registered letters where necessary. Next, Netflix will have to put up a notice of the verdict on its website for six months. Furthermore, it will be obliged to post an announcement in popular newspapers like Corriere della Sera and Il Sole 24 Ore.
There will be a time limit for Netflix to do this, and in case of any breach, it will pay a daily fine of €700 for each day of its failure to meet the requirements.
The lawyers representing Movimento Consumatori, Paolo Fiorio and Corrado Pinna, believe that the verdict serves as a good precedent. Companies must be transparent while creating agreements and not put the customers at risk because of ambiguous wording.
Additionally, the consumers group has made the consequences even more grave. In addition to requesting compensation for past overbilling, the consumer group has also called on Netflix to lower its prices in order to cancel out the consequences of overbilling.
Challenging Flexible Pricing in Online Streaming
If the company fails to take any action itself, then the group will initiate class-action lawsuits. This case demonstrates another change in the approach of courts toward digital services.
Online streaming services typically have some level of flexibility in their conditions regarding the pricing system. Nevertheless, as was made evident by the decision of the Court of Rome, there should always be restrictions on this sort of practice.
Both users and online service providers should understand the conditions clearly and specifically.
In any case, the final decision will be dependent on the result of the appeal.
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