BT fined £2.8m over crashes affecting 1.1m EE and PlusNet customers | Science and technology news

BT was fined £2.8 million after EE and Plusnet failed to provide clear and simple contractual information to more than a million customers.

Since June 2022, BT’s AND IS and Plusnet companies made more than 1.3 million sales without providing customers with a contract summary and information documents, which affected at least 1.1 million customers, according to the industry watchdog, Ofcom.

This means BT has broken consumer protection rules that came into force in 2022. These are designed to ensure customers get clear, comparable information about the services they are considering buying.

“It is unacceptable that BT failed to act in time, and the company must now pay a fine for its failures,” said Ian Strawhorne, director of enforcement at Ofcom.

When Ofcom introduced the rules in June 2022, BT assured the group it was confident the deadline would be met.

But the watchdog said its investigation found that from January 2022, BT was aware that some of its sales would not meet the deadline.

“In some cases, BT has deliberately chosen not to comply with the rules on time,” Ofcom said.

“Other providers have dedicated the necessary resources to meet the deadline for implementing these new rules, and BT will likely have saved costs by not doing so.”

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He said BT contacted affected customers last summer and offered them the opportunity to request information or cancel their contract free of charge.

However, some customers had already left BT before the end of their contract and may have been wrongly charged a so-called exit fee.

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Ofcom said: “Our rules are clear: if the required contract summary and information is not provided, the contract will not be binding on customers.

“As a result, an early exit fee should not have been paid by these customers.”

In addition to the £2.8 million fine, BT must also find and refund any affected customers who were charged termination fees, contact remaining customers who are still with BT and offer them the right to cancel free of charge. , and change all your sales processes to ensure they comply with the rules.

Which consumer group? said the industry watchdog should “continue to take action against any telecommunications companies that break the rules”.

“It is absolutely right that Ofcom is fining BT for failing to provide EE and Plusnet customers with clear contract information before they sign up – as some people will have been hit with expensive exit fees they should never have faced,” said Which? director of policy and defense Rocio Concha.

A BT spokesperson said: “We regret that some of our pre-contractual information and contract summary documents were not made available to some of our customers in a timely manner.

“We apologize for any inconvenience caused and have taken steps to proactively contact affected customers and arrange for them to receive the information and receive refunds where applicable.”