TPG pays fines over misleading bundles

Slap on the wrist for 'free VoIP minutes'.

Discount ISP TPG has again come under fire from Australia’s competition watchdog, paying two infringement fines after being found to have misled customers in its advertising.

The ISP paid $13,200 in fines in relation to advertising ‘500 free VoIP minutes’ as part of a broadband bundle plan.

On closer inspection, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission found that the customer would only gain access to these calls if all calls were a minimum duration of ten minutes and terminated in one of six Australian capital cities (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra or Perth.)

The ACCC had previously taken affront to TPG’s marketing of ‘unlimited’ broadband plans for $29.95 per month – despite these plans requiring phone line rental at an additional $30 per month.

ACCC chairman Rod Sims said the competition watchdog was “tired of correcting” fine-print qualification in telecommunications industry advertising, and will continue to meter out fines.

 “The ACCC has repeatedly put the telecommunications industry on notice that it will not tolerate misleading advertising, and is concerned that consumers are regularly still not offered transparent and clear information about the price, terms and conditions for their services.

 “The ACCC will take an increasingly aggressive approach to send the message that this kind of misleading advertising will not be tolerated,” Sims said.