James Delahunty
19 Aug 2011 10:52
UK regulator slaps providers for incorrectly billing customers.
TalkTalk and Tiscali UK were fined a total of £3 million after they incorrectly billed tens of thousands of their customers for services they never received. The fine is the result of an investigation opened in July 2010, after the regulator received complaints from over 1,000 customers.
Ofcom found that the pair billed customers for services they didn't receive, and singled out bills that were given to consumers who had closed their accounts previously. Ofcom issued both with a legally-binding notification in November 2010 and set them a deadline of 2 December 2010 to take steps to sort out their billing problems.
According to Ofcom, while they did take steps to improve their billing departments, they still manages to incorrectly bill almost 3,000 people between December 2, 2010 and March 4 this year.
"Ofcom has therefore issued TalkTalk and Tiscali UK with a financial penalty to reflect the seriousness of their breach of the rules and to act as a deterrent to them and other telecoms companies who must comply with the rules," a statement from the regulator reads.
TalkTalk and Tiscali UK have paid over £2.5 million in refunds and good will payments to over 65,000 affected consumers.