The British arm of French electricity giant EDF has agreed to pay a total of £4.5 million to thousands of customers and an awareness campaign after it mis-sold products, regulator Ofgem said Friday. Ofgem decided it was better for the firm to help 70,000 vulnerable customers, like the elderly who struggle with high energy bills, rather than making EDF Energy pay a fine, the regulator said in a statement.
It added that the total payout, equivalent to 5.38 million euros or $7.1 million, was agreed by both sides after EDF Energy staff were found to have told customers they could save money without knowing individual circumstances. Some customers were also not provided with full information regarding contracts and bill payments. "Ofgem's investigation found that EDF Energy had breached its marketing licence conditions," the regulator said in a statement.
Ofgem added that it was still investigating EDF Energy rivals Scottish Power, SSE and npower over similar issues and after toughening its marketing rules amid a shake-up of energy industry regulation in Britain. EDF Energy will spend £3.5 million on refunding customers. A further £1.0 million will go to the Energy Best Deal public awareness campaign run by charity Citizens Advice.
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