Virgin Media has been slapped with a hefty £23.8 million fine by Ofcom for putting thousands of vulnerable customers at “direct risk of harm” during their transition to digital landlines.

The media and communications watchdog reported that several serious incidents occurred during Virgin’s upgrade of its customers’ home phone services in November and December 2023. The telecoms giant failed to correctly identify and record the status of its “telecare” customers, who rely on emergency alarm systems that connect to a monitoring service, resulting in these affected customers not receiving the necessary support. This oversight led to their devices being unable to connect to alarm monitoring centres while their networks were disconnected, according to Ofcom’s findings.

Ofcom stated that this negligence put thousands of vulnerable customers, who were not involved in the process of upgrading their phone lines, at direct risk of harm.

For breaching Ofcom’s consumer protection rules, Virgin was fined £23.8 million.

Ian Strawhorne, Ofcom’s director of enforcement, said: “It’s unacceptable that vulnerable customers were put at direct risk of harm and left without appropriate support by Virgin Media during what should have been a safe and straightforward upgrade to their landline services.”

He added: “Today’s fine makes clear to companies that if they fail to protect their vulnerable customers, they can expect to face similar enforcement action.”

Virgin now has four weeks to pay the fine, which will subsequently be passed on to the Treasury.

The fine was determined based on the severity of the breach and the vulnerability of the affected customers, as well as Virgin’s self-reporting of the incident and admission of its shortcomings.

A representative for Virgin said that since 2023, the company has updated its procedures and implemented additional safeguards to better serve vulnerable customers.

The firm said: “While historically the majority of migrations were completed without issue, we recognise that we didn’t get everything right and have since addressed the migration issues identified by Ofcom.”

This includes a comprehensive support package for vulnerable customers, featuring improved communication, additional at-home assistance, thorough checks after the switchover, and participation in a nationwide awareness campaign.

The company also emphasised the necessity of transitioning its customers to digital services from traditional analogue landlines, which are “less reliable and difficult to maintain”.