Court dismisses ACCC's case against TPG

The Federal Court has dismissed the ACCC’s legal action against TPG over the company’s prepayment policy for some prepaid internet, home phone and mobile plans.

The ACCC had accused TPG of making false misleading representations by charging a $20 prepayment to cover potential usage outside of their plan inclusions.

Because TPG directly debits customers when a prepaid balance for these plans falls below $10, customers are unable to use the full amount of their prepayment on cancellation of their policy, and TPG keeps at least $10 of this prepayment when a plan is cancelled.

The ACCC had alleged that TPG made false or misleading representations about these so-called pre-payments by not disclosing that customers would be unable to take full advantage of the credit.

But the court found that TPG’s representations were not false or misleading, and that the term in question within the prepaid contracts was not unfair.

In a statement, the ACCC said it is “carefully considering” the judgment, implying that an appeal could be forthcoming.

“We brought this case because we believed TPG misled its prepaid customers about their ability to use up their full prepayment for services outside their plans, and to obtain a refund of any unused funds when they ended their contract,” ACCC Chair Rod Sims said.

“We will continue to take cases against telco businesses that we consider are making misleading claims about their services.”

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