Severn Trent Water fined

Water Services Regulation Authority Ofwat confirmed yesterday that it had fined Severn Trent Water £35.8m. 

The £34.7m portion of the fine was for deliberately misreporting key customer service information, while the remaining £1.1m was for providing sub-standard services to its customers.

'This sends a clear message to the company and to the rest of the water sector - Ofwat will protect consumers and companies must comply with their legal obligations or pay the price. Any further attempts to deliberately mislead Ofwat could lead to even bigger fines in the future,' said Ofwat chief executive Regina Finn.

'The obligations on the companies to provide reliable, accurate and complete data are designed to protect consumers in a monopoly environment. Without a choice of supplier, this protection is essential,' she added.

Severn Trent Water's shareholders will bear the entire cost of the fine; it will not be passed on to its customers.

Ofwat announced its proposals to fine Severn Trent Water for deliberately providing false information to the regulator and providing a poor service to its customers in April 2008.

Severn Trent Water, the world's fourth largest privately-owned water company, serves over eight million customers across the UK from the Bristol Channel to the Humber. The company plans to study the Ofwat decision and respond shortly.