Sep 30, 2021 07:00:00

It turns out that over 60 million yen was overcharged in 10 years, and the telecommunications company responded with refunds

It turns out that Australia's second-largest telecommunications company, Optus, has overcharged a total of about A $ 800,000 over the past decade. Optus has reported the case to the Australian Post and Telecom Authority and has stated that it will refund nearly 1,000 SMEs that have been improperly charged.

Optus refunds businesses almost $ 800,000 after billing error | ACMA

https://www.acma.gov.au/articles/2021-09/optus-refunds-businesses-almost-800000-after-billing-error

ACMA investigation: Optus repaying customers after huge landline overcharge | news.com.au — Australia's leading news site
https://www.news.com.au/technology/optus-repaying-australian-businesses-800k-after-decade-of-errors/news-story/220189523405912ea905f1133e071020

On September 29, 2021, the Australian Communications and Media Agency (ACMA) said, 'A total of A $ 788,609 (about 6370) was charged to 994 SMEs that were billing for landline services that did not use Optus. It has been decided to refund 10,000 yen). ' According to ACMA's research, Optus continued to bill even after customers switched carriers to other companies.

Optus told ACMA that 'this issue was due to an incorrect billing end date for customers who switched services to other companies.' The overcharge that was discovered this time lasted for about 10 years from February 2011 to March 2021, and Optus voluntarily reported this problem to ACMA and refunded to the affected companies. I promised to do.

ACMA Director Nerida O'Loughlin said on the matter: 'Optus is Australia's second largest telecommunications company, so it should have a mechanism to ensure compliance with all telecommunications regulations. The failure to discover such rudimentary mistakes over a long period of time is alarming and unacceptable. '

According to ACMA, one in 15 SMEs that were overcharged was charged more than A $ 10,000 (about 800,000 yen). This is not a small amount for a small business.

In addition, Australia has a telecommunications consumer protection law (TCP law) that requires telecommunications companies to prove that their telecommunications charges are reasonable, and in this case Optus provides its customers with services under this law. It is also clear that it was not provided.

ACMA will continue to closely monitor Optus to ensure that all customers are refunded and instruct them to ensure that billing errors do not recur, up to A $ 250,000 if the company does not follow ACMA's instructions. You will be fined a dollar (about 20 million yen).

In addition, Optus has already contacted 98% of SMEs affected by the problem and is refunding the overcharged fee and its interest. An Optus spokeswoman told Australian news media news.com.au , 'Between February 2011 and March 2021, a small number of customers who were using our business services were on the system. I was charged for the landline service due to a billing error. We promise to refund and report this issue to ACMA, and we will continue to work with the agency to provide refunds. ' talked.