Telstra has been found by the Federal Court to have misled customers over broadband upload speeds provided by its budget telco brand, Belong.
Court action initiated by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) led to the findings, following a customer migration in 2020. According to the ACCC, Telstra migrated nearly 9,000 Belong customers from an NBN plan with 100Mbps download speeds and 40Mbps upload speeds to a plan with 20Mbps upload speeds without notifying them of the reduction or lowering prices.
“Telstra’s failure to inform customers that their broadband service had been altered denied them the opportunity to decide whether the changed service was suitable for their needs,” said Liza Carver, ACCC Commissioner.
“There was no reduction to the price Telstra charged its customers even though the cost charged by NBN Co to Telstra was $7 a month less for the new, lower speed service.”
Telstra previously supplied a $90 credit to 2,785 affected Belong customers in 2021. However, the Federal Court found that Telstra “made false or misleading representations” to another 6,112 Belong customers who “would have reasonably construed” the 40Mbps upload speeds would still apply to them.
As a result, the ACCC is pushing for the Federal Court to penalise Telstra, which will be considered at a future hearing.
“It is simply unacceptable for a supplier of essential services to mislead consumers when reducing the quality of the services it is providing to its customers,” Carver said.
“We expect better from the country’s largest retail broadband internet service provider and believe these customers, who ultimately received a service they did not agree to, should be compensated.”
In 2022, Telstra, Optus, and TPG were ordered to pay a collective $33.5 million in penalties over a separate proceeding instigated by the ACCC.
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