BT Group PLC (LSE:BT.A) was in court today facing a class action alleging it overcharged customers £1.3 billion for their landline connections.
Brought by former Ofcom executive Jason Le Patourel with funding from Harbour Litigation, it is the first class action to reach court in the UK since changes to the law in 2015 allowed them.
The writ alleges that telecom giant BT, after cutting prices in 2018, failed to compensate customers for previous overcharging or those that had separately purchased landline and broadband services.
Le Patourel estimates that affected customers could get £300 to £400 in compensation depending on the length of their contracts but added that because of the age of the claimants, who are automatically enrolled in the action, many will died before any judgment is reached.
BT stated it would defend its position, adding that the claim related to a “technical” issue that was resolved with Ofcom in 2017.
“We do not accept that our pricing was anti-competitive back then, and as such are committed to robustly defending our position at trial,” the company said in a statement.
The case will run for eight weeks at the Competition Appeal Tribunal in London with Mr Justice Waksman of the High Court the presiding judge.
Shares in BT dipped 1.9% to 114p.