Vodafone has settled a long-running High Court claim brought by 62 former franchise partners over the operation of its UK high street stores.
The agreement brings the 19-month dispute to an end before it reached trial. Its financial terms will remain confidential and Vodafone has made no admission of liability.
The former store owners had accused the telecoms giant of enriching itself at their expense by as much as £85m.
Court documents alleged that Vodafone had cut the sales commissions paid to franchisees, imposed substantial penalties for administrative mistakes and encouraged struggling partners to take out loans and government grants.
Some of the claimants said they had accumulated personal debts exceeding £100,000 while running Vodafone shops and feared losing their homes or life savings.
The group accounted for almost 40 per cent of Vodafone’s 167 franchisees.
In a joint statement, Vodafone and the former franchise partners confirmed that the dispute over the interpretation of their franchise agreements had been resolved.
They said: “The settlement is entered into as a compromise of the dispute, without any admission of liability.”
Vodafone has consistently rejected allegations that it unjustly profited from the franchise network, describing the proceedings as a commercial dispute.
It has also said comparisons made between the case and the Post Office Horizon scandal were “wholly inappropriate”.
The telecoms group previously apologised to franchisees who had a difficult experience and said it had reimbursed £4.9m, including VAT, across its franchise estate through goodwill payments and the retrospective repayment of fines and clawbacks.
