Vodafone has settled a high court legal claim brought by 62 former franchisees who accused the mobile phone group of "unjustly enriching" itself at their expense by up to £85m. The dispute, which ran for 19 months without reaching trial, centred on allegations that Vodafone unilaterally slashed sales commissions and imposed heavy fines on small-business owners running its high street stores, leaving many with substantial personal debts and, in some cases, suicidal thoughts. The case had drawn comparisons from MPs to the Post Office Horizon IT scandal, given the scale of financial and personal harm claimed by those affected.

The settlement, announced in a joint statement on Thursday, was reached without any admission of liability and its terms remain confidential. The 62 claimants represent nearly 40% of Vodafone's 167 franchisees, and court papers had alleged the company acted in "bad faith", including a 2020 voicemail in which an executive reportedly conceded franchisees had been "shanked" by the commission changes. Vodafone, valued at about £25bn on the London Stock Exchange, has consistently denied unjust enrichment but apologised in 2024 to affected franchisees and began offering settlements to other former partners outside the claim last September.