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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
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| Southern Water facing £20.3m fine | Southern Water facing £20.3m fine |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| The water industry regulator, Ofwat, is planning to fine Southern Water £20.3m for "deliberately misreporting information" about its performance. | The water industry regulator, Ofwat, is planning to fine Southern Water £20.3m for "deliberately misreporting information" about its performance. |
| The misreporting meant that Southern was able to raise its prices by more than it should have done, Ofwat said. | The misreporting meant that Southern was able to raise its prices by more than it should have done, Ofwat said. |
| The fine is also for poor processes and systems that meant "customers received poor service", the regulator added. | The fine is also for poor processes and systems that meant "customers received poor service", the regulator added. |
| Ofwat said Southern Water was returning money to customers who had paid higher bills than they should have done. | Ofwat said Southern Water was returning money to customers who had paid higher bills than they should have done. |
| The regulator also noted that the company had taken "prompt" action once it discovered the misreporting. | |
| Southern reported the problem to Ofwat and co-operated "fully" with the investigation, the regulator said. | |
| The firm also reported the incident to the Serious Fraud Office and began its own investigation. | |
| 'Deception' | |
| According to Ofwat chief executive Regina Finn: "Southern Water deliberately misreported its customer service performance to Ofwat. | |
| It also "systematically manipulated information to conceal the company's true performance over an extended period of time", she said. "The company benefited directly from this misreporting at the last two price reviews, meaning Southern was able to increase its prices by more than it should have done. | |
| "Customers received higher than necessary bills because of the company's deception," Ms Finn concluded. | |
| Ofwat said that Southern Water's new management was now overseeing plans to address the issues found. | |
| The company is also making sure that customers receive payments that they are entitled to, Ofwat said. |