Ofgem have handed out a total of £850,000 in fines to 2 energy suppliers for breaking competition law.
Energy suppliers E Limited and Economy Energy were found to have an anti-competitive agreement whereby they wouldn’t target each other’s customers, restricting customers from being offered a better deal.
The agreement also meant that sensitive information, including customer meter point details, were shared.
E Limited were fined £650,000 by Ofgem, while Economy Energy’s fine was at the smaller amount of £200,000 because they recently entered administration.
Consultancy firm, Dyball Associates, were also given a £20,000 fine for acting as a facilitator.
Ofgem Director of Conduct and Enforcement, Anthony Pygram, commented on the news by saying: “E and Economy Energy agreed not to target each other’s customers with the assistance of Dyball Associates, leaving some customers potentially worse off by being unable to access deals from the other supplier.
“Customers should have an opportunity to switch to other suppliers and should not be prevented from doing so by anti-competitive agreements, and suppliers should all have an equal opportunity and compete on a level playing field with rivals.
“This enforcement action sends a strong signal to suppliers that we will take action and penalise those who undermine competition and do not act fairly.”
