LONDON (Reuters) -Six British water companies on Friday defeated mass lawsuits valued at over 1.5 billion pounds ($1.9 billion) for allegedly under-reporting sewage discharges and overcharging millions of customers.
The utilities companies, including Britain’s largest water provider Thames Water, were accused of misleading industry regulator Ofwat about the number of pollution incidents, which meant they were able to charge higher prices to customers.
Environmental and water consultant Carolyn Roberts brought the case, which was the first environmental competition law action to be brought in the United Kingdom.
But the six companies – which also include Anglian Water, Northumbrian Water, Severn Trent, United Utilities and Yorkshire Water – argued the cases should be thrown out at a hearing in September.
The Competition Appeal Tribunal said in a written ruling on Friday that the cases were excluded by the effect of the Water Industry Act 1991, but that they would have approved the cases otherwise.
The ruling comes as the amount of sewage pumped into Britain’s waterways has sparked public anger, prompting the government to pledge tougher oversight.
(Reporting by Sam Tobin; editing by William James and Catarina Demony)
