Without waiting for the findings of a thorough review, energy companies should begin making payments to consumers whose homes were improperly fitted with prepayment meters, according to the regulator.
Companies must immediately review their own meter installations, according to Ofgem CEO Jonathan Brearley.
Forced prepayment fittings are suspended for six weeks until the end of March.
It happened after debt collectors for British Gas forced meters into the homes of vulnerable people.
The terms of Ofgem's review of the guidelines, rules, and regulations governing prepayment meters are currently being laid out.
Public submissions will be considered as part of the investigation, which will be finished by the end of March. Soon, details on how customers can share specifics of their experiences will be made public.
Mr. Brearley stated that any persistent issues would result in supplier fines, but he added that the regulator had made the rules clear to businesses, rejecting the claim that Ofgem had been moving too slowly on the matter.
"Companies should fix it right away if they know they installed a prepayment meter improperly," he said on the Today program of BBC Radio 4.
If the customer wanted a regular meter again, he explained, they could do that and receive compensation.
The regulator will also conduct a focused investigation into British Gas's actions, specifically to determine whether it adhered to the requirements of its license to assist indebted customers prior to forcibly installing prepayment meters.
According to Mr. Brearley, "clearly something has gone wrong" at British Gas, and the investigation will be thorough and independent.
Customers of prepayment meters top off their meters with credit, which depletes as they use energy at home.
Charities and campaigners claim that because of rising energy costs and other cost-of-living pressures, many people are now unable to afford to add money to their meters.
Energy UK, the industry group for suppliers, has repeatedly emphasized that suppliers may be left with unpaid debts from clients who fail to pay their regular bills.
These mounting debts would have to be paid off from everyone else's bills if prepayment meters weren't an option.
Prepayment meters are used by more than four million households in the UK.
