• Over one million BT, EE and Plusnet customers were affected after key contract details were not supplied at sign‑up.
• Where refunds could not be issued, BT donated £440,000 to 17 UK charities.
What happened: Ofcom orders mass repayments
BT has been forced to hand back approximately £18 million in early termination charges after the communications regulator ruled that the company failed to meet basic consumer protection rules.
The issue dates back to June 2022, when new regulations required telecoms providers to give every customer a short contract summary and the full terms before signing up. Ofcom found BT, including its EE and Plusnet brands, sold around 1.3 million services without the correct paperwork between mid‑2022 and late 2023.
Without that documentation, the contracts were never valid – which meant the exit fees BT collected from customers who left early had no legal basis. The company has now refunded or credited affected users, with Ofcom confirming that a further £440,000 was given to charity in cases where accounts were closed and refunds could not be processed(Business Matters). The £18 million pay‑back follows a £2.8 million fine imposed on BT last year for the same breach.
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Why it’s important
What stands out in this case is not just the scale of the repayments, but the fact that Ofcom tied the breach directly to rules brought in only three years ago to stop customers being locked into contracts they never fully understood. Those regulations were meant to cut through small print and make pricing and terms clear from the start – and this episode shows they are being enforced in full.
For the rest of the industry, the warning is practical as much as legal. Early‑exit charges are a steady revenue stream for most providers; having to repay them in bulk is a hit few can shrug off. Beyond the money, the reputational damage from telling over a million customers their contract was invalid is arguably worse.
With mid‑contract price hikes already drawing criticism, the pressure is now on operators to tighten their sales processes and standardise how information is presented. In short, if companies cannot prove customers knew what they were signing up for, they risk paying for it twice – once in refunds and again in trust lost.
