Energy giant AGL fined a record $25m for wrongly taking welfare money

The Sydney Morning Herald12-19

Power and gas giant AGL has been dealt a record fine of $25 million for wrongly taking money from hundreds of welfare recipients who were no longer using its services.Australia’s Federal Court on ...

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But that program ended in January 2016 for reasons that were not explained.Clare Savage, chair of Australian Energy Regulator, which brought the case against AGL, said the penalty handed down on Thursday was the largest ever imposed for breaches of national energy laws.“The record $25 million penalty reflects the seriousness of the breaches and serves as a warning that the Australian Energy Regulator expects all retailers to refund customers if they have been overcharged and to provide consumers the full protections afforded under the rules,” Savage said.“The actions by AGL negatively impacted hundreds of people over an extended period, many of these may have been experiencing vulnerability.”LoadingThe court ordered three of AGL’s subsidiaries to establish and implement a compliance program, to be maintained for three years, to improve the way they deal with overcharging inactive Centrepay customers.AGL has apologised to affected customers. “Since the issue was identified by AGL in the mid-2020s, AGL has undertaken significant process enhancements to improve its handling of Centrepay payments,” the company said.AGL said it respected the court’s decision, but would review its judgement and consider whether to appeal, as the penalty was “significantly higher than expected”.The penalty would not affect AGL’s earnings guidance for the 2025 financial year, which remains unchanged, the company added.The Market Recap newsletter is a wrap of the day’s trading. 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