Virgin Media has been handed a £28million fine for preventing or delaying its customers from switching to another provider over a near three-year period.

Regulator Ofcom said its investigation had 'uncovered systemic and repeated failings' in Virgin Media's contract termination procedures.

It said the telecoms giant had 'likely mishandled' millions of calls between 1 January 2022 and 11 September 2024. These included 'excessive and unnecessary' transfers, putting customers on hold 'for no reason' and 'deliberate call-dropping tactics'.

The regulator opened its investigation into Virgin Media – which completed its merger with O2 in June 2021 – after receiving a 'significant' number of complaints from customers struggling to cancel their contracts.

Natalie Black, Ofcom's Group Director, Infrastructure and Connectivity, said: 'The facts are clear. Virgin Media made it harder for customers to cancel their contracts and then did not fully cooperate with our investigation. As a result, we are levelling our largest ever fine under our consumer protection rules for direct harm to consumers.

'Today, we are sending a clear message that any provider who wilfully acts against the interests of their customers will pay a heavy price.' 

Ofcom said Virgin Media had created a two-tier system, with only certain employees able to process cancellations.

'This resulted in over a million callers being made to repeat their request to at least one further agent to stand any chance of having their cancellation processed,' it said.

The protracted process caused some customers to cancel direct debits, leading to 'further difficulties such as missed payments impacting their credit score,' Ofcom added.

A Virgin Media spokesperson said: 'We're committed to giving all our customers great service and apologise to the small proportion who experienced an issue when contacting us to agree a new deal or cancel their service in the past.

'We have completely redesigned our customer services in recent years, addressing the historic shortfalls identified by Ofcom through a number of improvements, and have resolved all formal customer complaints from this period providing redress where appropriate.

'Our customer service turnaround strategy, underpinned by significant investment, has been transformational. Ofcom's latest data shows that Virgin Media is now the least-complained-about broadband provider with complaints at record lows, and complaints specifically relating to 'difficulties leaving' were 89% lower last year than in 2023.

'With One Touch Switch now in operation across the industry, and a wide range of competitive deals and services available, it's never been easier for customers to choose the right package for them.'