Ex-Belfast councillor Jolene Bunting had more than £2,500 deducted from her council wages over 14 months for exceeding the data limit on her mobile phone.
The overspend reached a point where a council official contacted Ms Bunting to work out a payment plan to spread the cost over a number of months.
A cap was also placed on her contract to limit her data usage but less than two months later she requested its removal, according to the staff member.
