Eir parent company fined €2.45m and to pay back 76,000 overcharged customers

Customers are expected to get a refund of €88

The ruling found that Eircom, the parent company of Eir, was convicted in 2015, 2017 and 2018 of 26 offences connected with the overcharging of customers between 2015 and 2021.

Eir parent company, Eircom, has been hit with a fine of €2.45m after overcharging customers across six years.

The Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) issued the fine to Eircom Limited on Wednesday and ordered them to refund over €6.5m to tens of thousands of customers who had been overcharged.

According to ComReg there are an estimated 76,000 customers with an associated revenue value of approximately €6,700,000 in line for refunds. Customers could get an average refund of €88 as a result.

In the ruling, it was found that Eircom was convicted in 2015, 2017 and 2018 of 26 offences connected with the overcharging of customers between 2015 and 2021.

ComReg also carried out two further investigations into Eircom for further instances of overcharging — one relating from June 2018 to March 2019 and the other relating from September 2019 to September 2020.

Eircom have said they will implement a series of “backward-looking measures” to identify customers who have been overcharged historically and will refund these customers appropriately

The company says that the measures will focus on:

• Customers that were incorrectly charged due to an issue with a “broken bundle” on the customers’ account.
• Customers that were charged in circumstances where the customer had requested their service be ceased and Eircom did not process the customers' cease request.
• Customers that were charged early cease charges in circumstances where the customer was permitted to cancel without penalty

On top of that, the company will implement "forward-looking measures" — which will include system upgrades and will see the company "proactively reviewing credits and disputes that could identify potential billing issues not already addressed”.

They will also appoint an "Independent Auditor" to review the effectiveness and implementation of both sets of measures.