Record fine for Vodafone puts UK telecoms groups on notice
London — Britain has fined Vodafone a record £4.6m for "serious and sustained" customer failures, including not updating accounts when mobile phone users topped up their credit to make calls. Vodafone, the world’s second-largest mobile operator, also failed to act quickly enough to identify or address the problems, the regulator said, which stemmed from a move to a new billing system. Over a 17-month period between the end of 2013 and April 2015, 10,452 of the mobile phone giant’s pay-as-you-go customers collectively lost £150,000. Vodafone said it deeply regretted the system and process failures, and had refunded the vast majority of the affected customers. Ofcom’s Lindsey Fussell said the failings were "serious and unacceptable" and the fines, which are the highest ever imposed by the regulator, sent a clear warning to all telecoms companies. "Phone services are a vital part of people’s lives, and we expect all customers to be treated fairly and in good faith," she said on Wednesd...
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