Ofgem has pledged to crack down on reported increases in direct debits.

Speaking to the Scottish Parliament’s Net Zero Committee, Neil Lawrence, retail director at Ofgem, said: “This is a troubling time for consumers and people are struggling to pay their bills.

“We were aware of a number of reports of levy increases and earlier this year we announced a series of market compliance reviews, the first of which was direct debit to review, how providers of increase direct debits, are they fair?

“It’s a very invasive review, so we collect a range of data, we also review management control frameworks.

“Direct debits can increase for a variety of reasons, but rest assured that where I find, where my colleagues find that suppliers have not treated customers fairly, we will take strong action on this because customers need to receive a fair price for their energy.

“So we are going to take this very seriously. We are there and I look forward to receiving the results of our compliance work.

A report a few days ago suggested that around 25% of reported customers had seen their energy withdrawals double in the past few months.

Earlier this month, energy companies were given a three-week deadline to justify the increases.