Telstra has been hit with a $506,160 fine after the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) found the company had ignored a directive to improve billing accuracy.

The investigation was launched after Telstra self-reported overcharging errors that affected more than 10,000 customers, who were overcharged a total of almost $2.5 million.

ACMA’s investigation found that a further 11,600 customers had been overcharged, with some 8,000 customers being charged more than $1.2 million for a broadband service after they’d changed providers.

Telstra has refunded more than $1.73 million to customers, but the ACMA’s fine sends a strong message that such errors are not acceptable.

Telstra blamed the overcharging on an issue with their internal system, including a data transfer problem and old employee instructions.

Telstra refunded millions of dollars to customers over a string of overcharging incidents. Credit: AAP.​

However, ACMA chair Nerida O'Loughlin slammed the company for its excuses.

She said: "Telstra is the largest telecommunications company in Australia.”

“I would expect its billing systems to be more sophisticated and compliant with industry-wide consumer protection rules."

“Telstra had already been formally directed by the ACMA to comply with billing rules so should have moved to address these issues and not inconvenienced its customers further."

“At a time when Australians are being very careful with their budgets, these errors are particularly concerning as they could have caused considerable strain and distress.”

The string of investigations comes after Telstra’s current Chief Executive, Andrew Penn, is set to retire from his position after seven years in charge.

His replacement will be the company’s current Chief Financial Officer, Vicky Brady, who will become the first female leader of Telstra come September.

Brady has been with Telstra for six years and has witnessed the company lose thousands of customers to the National Broadband Network. However, she is optimistic about Telstra’s potential to grow once again.

“Yes, that’s absolutely our ambition,” Brady said in response to a question about whether the telco could re-emerge as a growth one.

The removal of a third of its workers over the past three years and improved mobile revenue have set Telstra up to return to full-year earnings growth. Brady stated that achieving earnings growth is part of the current T25 plan and that there are extraordinary growth opportunities beyond that.

The current plan includes slashing costs by $500 million by 2025. Brady dismissed a suggestion that a new leader might create their own strategy, saying, “There is no change in strategy. We’ve already laid out T25. We’ve got our road maps mapped out. That’s business as usual.”

For our members who are Telstra subscribers, we encourage you to contact customer service at 13 22 00 or via their website to have your bills evaluated.

 

[Ricci]

I am not a Telstra customer but hey folk, come on, somebody has to pay for all their bonuses so stop your moaning and happily put in to their multi million pay packets!!