BBC fine

[Kathyan]

The BBC have been fined for it's competition phone scandal. The licence payers will end up footing this bill. Why did the courts not make them pay a rebate to all licence payers instead? Then, at least, the BBC would lose out and not the licence payers.

[ludwig]

Yes, that'll teach 'em eh? A stiff fine for the publicly funded organisation. Didn't this happen with something else recently - werent the police or government fined for something recently? can't remember, help me out somebody.

[jake-the-peg]

Wasn't it the Police over the Menezes business.

Yes fining public services (whoever gets the money) is stupid.

It should be deducted from the DG's bonus

[Oneeyedvic]

Network Rail

[kempie]

All fines by these regulatory bodies go to HM Paymaster General, just as when Postcomm fined Royal Mail �11.7m in 2006 and the OFT fined supermarkets and milk processors �116m for price fixing last December. Therefore when a private company or public service receives a fine it will return to the Treasury for the (supposed) benefit of the general public.

My favourite nonsensical penalty was the FSA handing out a �980,000 fine to Nationwide BS for security lapses after mislaying a laptop containing customer information. The Nationwide is a mutual society (i.e. the members are effectively the shareholders) therefore any fine imposed on the institution is a fine on the customers - net effect: customers pay the Treasury for the privilege of having their details compromised.

[squarebear]

Pah! Anyone who is dumb enough to call these phone lines deserves all they get.

[ludwig]

Thanks Jake, that's what I was thinking of.

[jno]

the fine was �400,000, that's probably about 1p for everyone. Much use to you?

[Kathyan]

jno, i didn't mean the fine that was imposed. They should have given every licence payer say �10, not much individually but quite a sum altogether!

[kempie]

How can the BBC ever lose out without licence payers also losing out - any penalty removed from the licence income will ultimately be reflected in the broadcast output.

Not quite sure how giving a �250million rebate to licence payers, as you propose, would not reduce the quality of service more than the current �400,000.

[Kathyan]

We can't win then, can we? I didn't realise how much �10 each would be!