Under pressure : Tony Cocker , the chief executive of E.ON , which has been forced to pay £7.75million to Citizens Advice after the regulator found the energy giant had overcharged customers after price rises . Power giant E.on has been ordered to pay a £7.75million penalty after it ripped off customers who were switching to rivals . The money will go to Citizens Advice to fund the organisation ’ s work helping those trying to cut their energy bills . E.on effectively overcharged thousands who decided to move to other suppliers after it announced price rises in January 2013 and again in early 2014 . Industry rules state that energy companies must give customers 30 days ’ notice of any price rise . Once a customer states they intend to move , the firm is not allowed to impose an exit fee or apply the new higher tariff even if the move takes place after the date of the increase . However , industry regulator Ofgem found that E.on broke the rules by hitting tens of thousands of departing customers with a higher tariff in the days before their account was switched . The firm admitted the mistake as far as customers who paid by direct debit or cheque were concerned . However , it failed to notify Ofgem that it also affected people with meters until late in the investigation . It has refunded £8 to £12 to 40,000 customers who paid by cash or cheque and is now trying to find another 7,000 meter customers to pay them an average of £3.42 . While the sums involved are relatively low , Ofgem imposed a high penalty because E.on did the same thing in January 2012 . At that time , it was ordered to refund £1.4million to customers and pay £300,000 in lieu of a penalty to Age UK . The firm claimed it had implemented new procedures to stop it happening again , but was guilty of the same mistake in both 2013 and 2014 . 'Absolutely unacceptable ' : Regulator Ofgem said the penalty reflected E.ON 's 'repeated failings ' on billing rules after the company incorrectly imposed exit fees and overcharged customers . Ofgem ’ s enforcement chief , Sarah Harrison , said : ‘ Our rules give customers a chance to avoid exit fees and higher costs when suppliers put up prices . These are important customer protections and it is vital suppliers play by the rules . The energy regulator has imposed fines on energy companies totalling £168 million since 2010 . Britain 's Big Six energy suppliers are responsible for £99million of the payments , with British Gas the worst offender among them with their figure totalling £34.6million . E.ON has been fined £24.8million in total . The payments are as follows : . November 2012 : E.ON agrees to pay out £1.7million to customers and charities after customers were incorrectly charged exit fees or overcharged following price rises . July 2013 : The company agrees a £3million package of fines and money for customers after it misreported the number of energy-saving light bulbs it had distributed under an energy efficiency scheme . May 2014 : E.ON agrees to pay £12million to vulnerable customers for mis-selling . April 2015 : The company agrees to pay £7.75million to Citizens Advice to help vulnerable customers in addition to £400,000 already paid to those affected , after it was found to have overcharged in the wake of price rises . ‘ It is important that E.on has repaid potentially affected customers and co-operated with the investigation . However it ’ s absolutely unacceptable that it failed to provide these vital customer protections yet again and this persistent failure is the reason for the high penalty. ’ Citizens Advice chief executive Gillian Guy said the ruling should send a warning to other firms . ‘ Consumer rights can not be ignored , ’ she said . ‘ Customers shouldn ’ t be trapped in higher bills . With prices up a third since 2010 people must have the freedom to shop around for a better deal . ‘ Consumers must be confident that the regulator will take strong action when companies fail so this judgment is welcome news . ‘ It is positive that the Ofgem penalty will go towards helping people who are struggling to heat and light their homes. ’ E.on apologised and has agreed to fund an independent external audit into what went wrong . A spokesman said : ‘ We have been open and transparent about this failure to Ofgem and have agreed to make a payment to Citizens Advice which will be used to support its Energy Best Deal Extra engagement programme , which provides face to face energy advice . ‘ E.on is committed to ensuring that no one will lose out financially and is pleased that the payment is going to a worthwhile cause that will provide support to those in need . ’
Firm to pay Citizens Advice £7.75m after incorrectly imposing exit fees . Refunds for E.on customers affected in January 2013 and January 2014 . Ofgem brands E.ON 'absolutely unacceptable ' for failing to protect clients .