23 April 2007
Industry regulator Ofwat has dropped its investigation as to whether or not Southern Water deliberately misled the regulator with regards to the fact that it had not met its customer service targets.
After a lengthy enquiry, the Serious Fraud Office said there was insufficient evidence to proceed with a criminal prosecution against the company.
Originally, customers had complained about the response times for billing enquiries and customer services, particularly after the introduction of a new payment system.
Initial reports suggested that the utility supplier may have been required to pay out compensation to its customers, as required by the Guaranteed Standards Scheme.
A doubtlessly relieved Les Dawson, Southern Water's Chief Executive, told The Portsmouth Today newspaper that a new £20 million billing system that was introduced in February would help deliver an improvement plan over the coming year, as well as helping to raise customer service standards.
Customers have already received £436,030 in compensation since the start of the investigation.