BT has been required to refund or credit £18
millionto customers, following enforcement action by
Ofcom.
Last year, Ofcom fined BT £2.8 million
after it failed to provide customers with clear and simple
contract information before signing up to a new deal.
The company broke our consumer protection rules designed to
ensure telecoms customers get clear, comparable information about
the services they are considering buying.
Following engagement with Ofcom, BT contacted the majority of
affected customers, explaining that it had not provided them with
the information to which they were entitled, and giving them the
opportunity to request the information and/or cancel their
contract without charge.
However, before these communications were sent, some customers
affected by the breach left BT before the end of their contract
and may have been charged an early exit fee. Our rules are clear
that if the required contract summary and contract information is
not given, the contract is not binding on customers. As a result,
an early exit fee should not have been payable by these
customers.
As well as fining BT, we also required it to amend its sales
process and refund any affected customers who may have been
charged for leaving before the end of their contract period. We
told the company that if it was unable to refund any money, it
must donate it to charity.
As a result of this enforcement action, BT has now refunded or
credited £18 million back to customers and donated £440,000
across 17 charities where refunds or credits were not possible.
