Ofcom finds phone and broadband providers charged 65,000 customers for services they had not received
TalkTalk and its Tiscali UK subsidiary have been fined £3m for incorrectly billing 65,000 customers for services they had not received.
Media regulator Ofcom launched an investigation into the telecoms group following complaints from more than 1,000 customers.
Ofcom found it had wrongly billed consumers, in particular people who had closed their accounts, in more than 62,000 cases between January and November 2010.
Despite a warning from the regulator to sort out the problem, the two businesses incorrectly billed almost 3,000 more customers in subsequent months.
TalkTalk, which bought Tiscali UK in 2009, was named by Ofcom in April as the most complained about provider of home phone and broadband services.
The company has paid back more than £2.5m in refunds and goodwill payments to people who had received the wrong bills.
Ofcom said the fine reflected the "seriousness of their breach of the rules" and was intended to "act as a deterrent to them and other telecoms companies who must comply with the rules".
It said the level of the penalty also reflected the steps the copmany had taken towards complying with the rules, and the financial compensation it had already offered consumers.
Ofcom is able to fine companies which breach telecoms rules up to 10% of their relevant turnover.
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Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/aug/18/talktalk-fined-incorrect-billing
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