Ofcom Shifts Enforcement Target: From Agents to Pay Incentives

Ofcom fined Virgin Media £28m on 8 July 2026 for obstructing cancellations between 2022 and 2024, but the penalty's significance extends beyond the misconduct itself. The regulator explicitly cited Virgin Media's commission scheme—which financially rewarded agents for mishandling cancellation calls—as a structural aggravating factor. This marks a regulatory turn: Ofcom now treats how operators design staff incentives as enforcement terrain, not merely the conduct those incentives produce. Telecoms providers with retention-linked commission models face fresh compliance pressure.