[ad_1]
(CNS): Regional telecommunications company Flow has been fined $400,000 by the Utility Regulation and Competition Office (OfReg) after breaching its licence. Flow increased its business customer rates from $30 to $34.99 from January 2019 to April 2022 without approval. OfReg also said the firm failed to comply with its obligation to provide the regulator with its quarterly data report.
In a relatively rare show of its teeth, which it has under the Regulation and Competition Act, OfReg imposed the fine, which Flow has paid, for a “serious breach” of its licence for the unapproved price increase and delivered a warning for the data reporting breach.
Sonji Myles, OfReg Executive Director for Information, said that licensees must comply with the terms of their licence and the laws of the Cayman Islands.
“As the regulator for the utilities sectors, it is our job to protect consumers and ensure licensees are held to account when they do not,” he said. “We will act accordingly and apply the full force of the sanctions made available to us under the law. In this case, the fine imposed on FLOW is in the upper region of the maximum amount and reflects the seriousness of the first breach of its licence, applying unapproved price increases.”
Myles said a warning was deemed sufficient for For the failure to provide data reports, but OfReg would closely monitor Flow’s future reporting.
Peter Gough, who continues as the interim boss at the beleaguered regulator, said it was important that customers are protected from organisations that do not comply with their licence conditions.
“OfReg has drafted Consumer Protection Regulations for the ICT Sector that will further enhance the protection of customers,” he said. “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 also said that in OfReg’s role as a policy advisor to the Cayman Islands Government, it was asking lawmakers to consider increasing the types and levels of penalties available to the regulator, including provisions to make restitution orders for consumers.
“In the meantime, OfReg urges FLOW to honour their obligations to their customers,” Gough added.
It is not clear whether Flow has any plans to refund customers who are out of pocket due to the unauthorised additional charges over a three-year period.
Since its inception, OfReg has been criticised by the general public for failing to protect consumers, and the Office of the Auditor General has raised concerns about the multiple failings of the regulator since it was established in 2017.
Infrastructure Minister Jay Ebanks, who is responsible for OfReg, pledged his support to what he said was its hardworking staff and to provide the legislative support that it needs to be a more effective regulator.
See the full determination here.
[ad_2]
Source link