Npower fined 26 million pounds for billing, complaints failings

Npower has been fined 26 million pounds in the largest ever fine for a British power utility after overcharging customers and improperly handling customer complaints, regulator Ofgem said on Friday.

Billing issues at the company, a subsidiary of Germany's RWE (RWEG.DE), affected more than 500,000 customers.

Regulator Ofgem said many of the issues were due to the introduction of a new IT system in 2011 which led to some customers receiving inaccurate and late bills.