TalkTalk and Tiscali fined by Ofcom

Date: 18/08/2011

Companies purchasing new non-geographic numbers may be interested to hear that TalkTalk and Tiscali have been fined by Ofcom.

The regulatory body launched an investigation into the telecoms firms after receiving more that 1,000 customer complaints.

Both enterprises were found to be guilty of billing consumers for services they did not use.

Many of these individuals had closed their accounts and, although both businesses attempted to rectify the problem, many people still received incorrect statements.

Dido Harding, chief executive officer at TalkTalk, said his company is "striving to continually improve and invest in customer experience and [we] are pleased at the clear progress we are starting to make".

The enterprises have been fined £3 million and have already issued more than £2.5 million in refunds and goodwill payments to customers.

Ofcom stated that it hoped the financial penalty will act as a deterrent to other telecoms providers and shows why it is so important to adhere to regulations.