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E.ON UK to pay up

May 16, 2014

British energy supplier E.ON UK must reimburse thousands of households after misinforming customers about their tariff choices, regulators in London said.

https://p.dw.com/p/1C1Je
The E.ON logo.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa

A British subsidiary of the German energy giant E.ON must pay back a record compensation of 12 million pounds (14.7 million euros, $20 million), regulators said Friday.

E.ON UK did not adequately train and supervise staff and as a result customers were provided incorrect information about their tariff choices, British regulator Ofgem said.

“The agreed redress package reflects the harm caused by E.ON's extensive poor sales practices carried out between June 2010 and December 2013,” Ofgem said.

Some 330,000 households, including pensioners, the disabled and low-income families, are set to receive about 35 pounds each in a redress package.

Inadvertent deception

Ofgem said it found no evidence that E.ON UK senior management purposefully misled customers about their tariffs. Because E.ON UK signed on to the compensation package, Ofgem said it would only fine them a single pound.

Since 2010, Ofgem has slapped nearly 100 million pounds in fines and redress on energy companies for various rule breaches, 39 million of which came as a consequence for mis-selling tariffs.

rs/cjc (Reuters, dpa)