'Serious and sustained breaches of consumer protection rules'. Ofcom's damning judgment on Vodafone after years of failing customers.

Mis-selling, inaccurate billing and badly handled complaints have led to the second highest fine ever issued by the regulator.

The rap sheet against the company is a long one, with both individuals and businesses affected. One investigation found that Vodafone failed to credit over 10,000 pay-as-you-go accounts after they had paid, leading to those customers collectively losing over £150,000.

If Vodafone is serious about making things right then its chief executive needs to step down.

Call for Vodafone chief executive Vittario Colao to resign

The billing issues were varied, and included wrongly disconnecting services and incorrectly set up direct debits. Some small businesses even had their credit ratings ruined after Vodafone chased made-up bills.

Vittario Colao has overseen Vodafone's operations since 2008, and has done nothing to stop this abuse. 

Vodafone is the most complained about mobile provider, with complaints rising by 60% leading up to the investigation, yet they didn't take steps to improve their procedures.

As Ofcom's director said 'phone services are a vital part of people's lives, and we expect all customers to be treated fairly and in good faith'. In 2016 communication is key to our personal and professional lives, so this kind of service is just not good enough.

Vodafone has issued an apology of sorts and admitted the problems occurred over two years. But an apology isn't enough, and the fine amounts to about 0.01% of the company's £40 billion revenue. 

Colao gets £14 million a year on the backs of 20 million customers, thousands of whom he has failed completely. It's time consumers take back power and demand his resignation. 

Tell Vodafone it can't get away with this

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