Cayman telecoms provider FLOW has been slapped with a record $400,000 fine for overcharging customers over a three-year period.
FLOW pushed up prices for its business telephone-line customers without seeking approval and then stopped providing data to the regulator after it launched an investigation.
Regulator OfReg announced, in a press release issued Thursday evening, that the telecoms provider has now paid a $400,000 fine as a result of the acknowledged breach of its licence.
There was no indication that FLOW will be required to reimburse customers who overpaid, though OfReg has urged the telecoms company to “honour their obligations to their customers”.
The regulator is also urging government to increase its powers to allow it to make express restitution orders for consumers in future.
In an enforcement notice, issued last month, OfReg indicated that FLOW had acknowledged breaching the terms of its licence by increasing business telephone-line rates from $30 to $34.99 per month from January 2019 to April 2022 without approval to do so.
The notice also highlights a second breach by FLOW of failing to provide mandatory data to the regulator as part of its quarterly reporting requirements.
OfReg has now issued a final determination imposing a fine on FLOW of $400,000 for the unapproved price increase and delivered a warning for the data-reporting breach.
Sonji Myles, OfReg executive director of information said the administrative fine – close to the maximum allowable under the law – said the determination showed the regulator was prepared to apply the ‘full force of the sanctions’ when consumers were impacted.
Interim CEO Peter Gough added, “We take our responsibility to protect consumers very seriously indeed.
“Where we find failures by licensees and operators to comply with the law, we will not hesitate to exercise our authority and impose fines and sanctions at appropriate levels to discipline operators and warn others of the consequences of non-compliance with the terms of their licences.”
Gough indicated OfReg was advising government to broaden the scope of penalties it could issue to explicitly include restitution orders for impacted customers
Infrastructure Minister Jay Ebanks gave verbal support to any needed changes.
“I pledge my continued support to the hardworking staff at OfReg and to provide the necessary legislative support that Ofreg needs to be a more effective regulator,” he said in the release.
FLOW’s representatives were not immediately available for comment.
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FLOW is billing $10/day when you travel with your mobile phone data turned off for my cell phone pinging towers while i’m travelling. I get billed every month I travel then spend hrs with FLOW trying to get it reversed!!!!!
It’s like we are regressing in technology!
That’s why I use Logic. Better company better service
If flow did the oppersite and reduced prices would they have to seek approval? If they decided to raise prices back to the previous level would they have to seek approval?
Since FLOW is not being required to reimburse its business customers for the overcharges, shouldn’t that $400,000 be used to reimburse them and the remainder go to “wherever those fines go?”