Notice of our decision to release the Commitments and Undertakings made by Thames Water Utilities Limited
| Date | 07 August 2024 |
August 2024
Notice of our decision to release
the Commitments and
Undertakings made by Thames
Water Utilities Limited
Notice of our decision to release the Commitments and Undertakings
made by Thames Water Utilities Limited
1
About this document
This document is a final decision, pursuant to Schedule 6A to the Competition Act 1998
(CA98), that, in accordance with section 31A (4) of the CA98, the Water Services Regulation
Authority (Ofwat) has released the binding commitments (the Commitments) previously
made by Thames Water Utilities Limited (Thames Water) and accepted by Ofwat under the
CA98.
In addition, this document also sets out our decision to release the binding undertakings
(the Undertakings) previously made by Thames Water and accepted by Ofwat under section
19 of the Water Industry Act 1991 (WIA91).
We publicly consulted in May 2024 on releasing Thames Water from both the Commitments
and the Undertakings and have taken the representations we received into account when
making our final decision.
Notice of our decision to release the Commitments and Undertakings
made by Thames Water Utilities Limited
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Executive summary
In December 2021, we published our decision to accept the Undertakings offered by Thames
Water to address the contraventions of its Instrument of Appointment (Licence) and the
Market Terms of the Wholesale Retail Code (WRC)
1
that we had identified through our
investigation under the WIA91. The investigation considered the accuracy of market data
Thames Water made available to retailers at the time of the opening of the business retail
market and the management resources and systems of planning and internal control that the
company had in place to ensure that it was able to carry out its regulated activities.
In March 2022 we published our decision to accept the Commitments offered by Thames
Water to address competition concerns that we had identified through our investigation
under the CA98 into Thames Water's approach to installing smart water meters for business
customers and its provision of access to water usage data from those meters.
In May 2024, we consulted on proposals to release Thames Water from the Undertakings and
the Commitments on the basis that it appeared that it had complied with the requirements of
both.
Having taken into consideration the responses received to this consultation, we have decided
that both the Undertakings and Commitments should now be released, and they are no
longer binding and enforceable requirements on Thames Water. Thames Water continues to
be required to comply with its CA98 and other regulatory obligations.
1
WRC is a statutory code brought into force by sections 66DA and 117F WIA91 and is enforceable by us under those
provisions. Market Terms within the WRC cover the arrangements for the registration and transfer of non-
household customers and the calculation by Market Operator Services Limited (MOSL) of the primary charges due
under the Wholesale Contract. The Wholesale contract is a standard agreement between each wholesaler and
every retailer that takes wholesale services from it.
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