Ofcom has fined EE and Virgin Media a total of £13.3m for overcharging some phone and broadband customers who ended their contracts early, the regulator said today.
While EE has been fined £6.3m, Virgin Media was hit with a £7m penalty for breaking consumer protection rules.
Ofcom said about 400,000 EE customers who ended their contracts early had to pay early exit penalties of up to 4.3 million pounds, while about 82,000 Virgin Media customers were overcharged about £2.8m.
Gaucho Rasmussen, Ofcom’s director of investigations and enforcement, added: “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.”
BT and Virgin Media have not commented so far.
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