Yahoo Finance EnergyAustralia cops $14 million fine after duping half a million Aussies: 'Failure'
EnergyAustralia has been ordered to pay $14 million in penalties for misleading consumers about electricity prices.
One of Australia’s biggest energy retailers has been fined $14 million for misleading hundreds of thousands of consumers about electricity prices. EnergyAustralia has admitted to breaching consumer law and the Electricity Retail Code and has apologised to customers dealing with the rising cost of living.
The major energy company admitted it failed to state the lowest possible price and misrepresented what an “average” customer would expect to pay annually under its electricity offer in its communications to around 566,000 consumers. This happened between June and September 2022.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) noted this came when electricity prices were rising and many consumers were looking to switch to cheaper plans.
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EnergyAustralia also admitted to failing to properly disclose price differences in 27 electricity offers online around the same time period. These offers were viewed about 220,000 times.
ACCC head Gina Cass-Gottlieb said the energy company breached laws that were designed to help consumers compare electricity offers and find the best deal.
“EnergyAustralia’s failure to fully inform consumers meant they could not accurately compare offers from competing retailers and may have been denied the opportunity to choose the best deal for them,” she said.
“Some consumers may also have been misled by EnergyAustralia’s statements into thinking that a price change was less than it actually was, causing them to stay with their existing plan when in fact a different plan may have represented a better deal.”
EnergyAustralia managing director Mark Collette said the company took immediate action once it became aware of the issue and tried to contact every customer impacted.
"We are sincerely sorry," he said.
"We recognise that with the rising cost of living impacting everyone, we must get the right information to our customers."
He said the company had made "significant improvements" to its governance.
It comes as energy retailer Dodo was ordered to pay more than $825,000 for breaching rules on late customer payments earlier this month.
- With AAP
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