EE and Virgin Media fined for overcharging customers

The regulator said around 400,000 EE customers who ended their contracts early were over-billed, and customers ended up over-paying up to £4.3m. It added almost 82,000 Virgin Media customers were overcharged a total of just under £2.8m.

Both companies failed to clearly set out the charges customers would have to pay if they ended their contract early, Ofcom said.

Meanwhile, Ofcom has fined EE £6.3m for its failings. This includes a 30 percent reduction because EE admitted the breaches and agreed to settle the case. Virgin Media was fined £7m, with an additional £25,000 fine for “failing to provide full information when asked”.

Virgin Media has refunded or made donations to charity in the cases of 99.8 percent of customers who were affected and is working to trace the remaining customers in order to refund them. If it is unable to trace these customers, it will donate the remaining refunds to charity.

Following Ofcom’s investigation, Virgin Media has significantly reduced the level of its early-exit charges by an average of 30 percent, and up to 50 percent in some cases. Virgin Media now applies an additional reduction to the early-exit charges paid by customers who end their contract after moving house.

The company has also made changes to its procedures and contract terms for home movers. Virgin Media has also made changes to its procedures and contract terms which apply to customers who move house.

It has, however, decided to appeal Ofcom’s ruling. Tom Mockridge, chief executive of Virgin Media, said: “This unreasonable decision and excessive fine does not reflect the swift actions we took, the strong evidence we have presented, or our consistent, open and transparent cooperation with the regulator. We will be appealing Ofcom’s decision.”

EE agreed to change its terms and significantly reduce its charges. EE has refunded just over £2.7m to the affected customers it has been able to identify, although this means up to £1.6m cannot be refunded.

Gaucho Rasmussen, Ofcom’s director of investigations and enforcement, said: “EE and Virgin Media broke our rules by overcharging people who ended their contracts early. Those people were left out of pocket, and the charges amounted to millions of pounds.

“That is unacceptable. These fines send a clear message to all phone and broadband firms that they must play by the rules, in the interests of their customers.”

The money raised from these fines will be passed on to the Treasury, Ofcom said.