UK ISP refunds $4m in billing errors

British ISP TalkTalk has forked out £2.5 million ($3.98 million) in refunds for billing 62,000 customers that had cancelled their accounts.

Communications regulator, Ofcom, commenced an investigation into the company and its recent acquisition Tiscali last year after more than 1,000 complaints over incorrect billing.

TalkTalk Group was ordered last November to cease sending bills and to suspend any debt collection activities it was undertaking.

The error stemmed from its “One Company” billing integration project and had caused a hiccup in its bid to challenge incumbent carrier, BT.

TalkTalk reported earlier this month that it had lost 25,000 customers last quarter, reversing gains in the previous quarter of 18,000 new customers. The decline saw Virgin Media overtake the ISP as the UK's second largest by subscribers, according to ISP Review.

TalkTalk CEO Dido Harding noted [pdf] that moving the Tiscali customers to its core billing system had caused “some disruptions”.