Virgin Media has been fined a record £28 million ($37.5 million) for making it unreasonably difficult for customers to close accounts or switch to a better telecoms deal. The U.K. Office of Communications (Ofcom) found that the company’s commission policy “effectively encouraged and financially rewarded” call center agents for creating barriers that prevented customers from leaving, undermining competition.
The fine is the largest Ofcom has imposed for a competition offense, and it follows the U.K.’s recent move to expand regulators’ powers to enforce competition law. Virgin Media encouraged its staff to drop calls, put customers on hold for long periods repeatedly, and transfer them pointlessly to other agents in the hope that they would give up trying to close their accounts.
