TELEPHONE SERVICE PROVIDER Eircom has admitted that it applied the new VAT rate to customer bills earlier than it should have, leading to 65,000 customer being overcharged in December.
The company said that about 65,000 telephone and broadband customers were charged VAT at the new rate of 23 per cent on their bills last month.
The VAT rate change did not come into effect until 1 January.
The average impact on a customer’s bill was €1.44 and all affected customers will be refunded on their next bill, Eircom said in a statement.
ComReg, the industry’s regulator, was notified about the error, according to the provider.
The group is passing on the VAT increase to most of its customers and it noted that the higher rate will be charged on all bills issued after 1 January even if they are for services provided in 2011 (before the increase was implemented).
The company said this is “in accordance with the rules provided by the Office of the Revenue Commissioners”.
However, customers of eircom’s fixed and mobile products and services will not have to pay the higher rate of VAT as the firm said it will absorb these charges.
Meanwhile, Eircom staff had a busy week repairing 6,600 customer faults because of adverse weather conditions.
There are still 6,500 faults reported on the system and a crew of 700 people continue to work today to fix the problems.
The worst-affected areas are Donegal, Sligo, Mayo and Galway, as well as Louth, Cavan and Monaghan. In the south west, customers in west Cork and Kerry have seen faults to their broadband and telephone services.
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