Shell Energy fined £1.4m by Ofcom for consumer protection breaches

Shell Energy has been fined £1.4m by the UK’s telecoms regulator for failing to tell more than 70,000 mobile phone and broadband customers to review their contracts as they approached expiry.

Ofcom said its investigation found the company broke consumer protection rules designed to ensure that customers get a fair deal for their communication services and also failed to provide information allowing people to find better deals.

This penalty includes a 30% discount after Shell Energy’s admission of liability and agreement to enter into Ofcom’s settlement process.

Rules introduced in 2020 mean providers have to prompt their customers before their existing contract is up and provide important information to help them shop around and take advantage of a better deal. They also require providers to remind their customers if they are already outside of their minimum contract period.

Specifically, telecoms and pay-tv companies must issue an ‘end-of-contract’ notification to customers - by text, email or letter - between 10 and 40 days before their minimum contract period comes to an end.

Shell Energy is the UK consumer gas, electricity and broadband operations business of energy giant Shell.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com