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Requirement to pay compensation
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96. (1) This section applies to a requirement to pay compensation in respect of a regulatory breach.
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(2) An adjudicator may require compensation to be paid to an end-user in respect of a regulatory breach notwithstanding that the end-user may have received a refund.
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(3) When determining the amount of compensation to be paid by a person in respect of a regulatory breach, an adjudicator shall take account of at least the following factors, to the extent that they are relevant to the breach:
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(a) the need to ensure that the compensation is appropriate and proportionate;
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(b) the amount of any loss suffered, or costs incurred by any person affected by the breach;
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(c) the effect of the breach on any person affected by the breach, including any distress, inconvenience or emotional upset caused by the breach;
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(d) whether the regulatory breach continued after the person was served with a notice of suspected non-compliance;
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(e) if applicable, the extent and timeliness of any steps taken to end the regulatory breach and any steps taken to remedy the consequences of the regulatory breach;
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(f) any relevant precedents set by a court or the Commission.
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(4) The maximum amount of compensation that a provider may be required to pay to an end-user is €5,000.
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(5) Where a regulatory breach is committed by a person other than a natural person the maximum amount of compensation that an adjudicator may require it to pay to all the persons affected by the regulatory breach shall not exceed the greater of—
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(a) €5,000,000, and
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(b) 10 per cent of the annual turnover of the person in the State in the financial year ending in the year immediately before the financial year in which the regulatory breach last occurred.
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(6) Where a regulatory breach is committed by a natural person the maximum total amount of compensation that an adjudicator may require him or her to pay in respect of that breach to all of the persons affected shall not exceed the greater of—
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(a) €500,000, and
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(b) 10 per cent of annual income of the person on whom the financial penalty is to be imposed, in the year preceding the year in which the regulatory breach last occurred.
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(7) If compensation is required to be paid to more than one person following a finding that a person has committed a regulatory breach and the total amount of such compensation exceeds the maximum limit provided for in subsection (5) or (6), the compensation shall be reduced in proportion to the sum of all claims for compensation against the maximum limit.
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(8) Where an adjudicator decides to impose both a financial penalty and a requirement to pay compensationin respect of a regulatory breach the cumulative maximum amount of the financial penalty and compensation shall not exceed the relevant limit set out in subsection (5) or (6).
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