Optus allegedly sold goods and services to more than 400 customers through inappropriate sales conduct, then pursued customers for debts despite knowing the contracts were fraudulently entered, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said on Thursday.
Many of them were experiencing vulnerability or disadvantage including mental disabilities, diminished cognitive capacity, unemployment and low financial and legal literacy, the ACCC said.
Gina Cass-Gottlieb says the Optus customers suffered financial harm, shame and emotional distress. (Mick Tsikas/AAP PHOTOS)
The commission's chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said the commission will take appropriate enforcement action when consumer law is breached and pays particular attention when vulnerable or disadvantaged customers are disproportionately impacted.
"Many consumers suffered financial harm, incurring thousands of dollars of debt and non-financial harm, such as shame, fear, and emotional distress about the debts or being pursued by debt collectors," Ms Cass-Gottlieb said.
The majority of the customers were in the Northern Territory, where senior management at two Darwin stores operated by a licensee, Suntel Communications, allegedly encouraged staff to engage in inappropriate sales conduct over a two-year period ending in mid-2023.
Coverage checks were not conducted despite some of the 363 impacted customers being Indigenous people who lived in rural, regional or remote locations not covered by Optus' network, the ACCC alleged.
Staff allegedly manipulated credit checks, overpriced accessories and sold consumers phones and plans they could not afford.
At another since-shuttered store in Mount Isa, Queensland, a staff member allegedly fraudulent created contracts without customers' knowledge, with dozens of them then pursued for debts.
Another 24 customers at other stores were allegedly placed under undue pressure and induced to purchase a large number of products.
Some of them were allegedly given false, misleading or deceptive representations that particular goods were free.
Suntel Communications director James Carew said he could not comment on the allegations when contacted by AAP on Thursday.
In a 2022 submission urging the ACCC to reject a proposed merger of two other telcos, Mr Carew said the company operated 21 Optus stores throughout the NT and regional Queensland, turning over more than $75 million a year.
An Optus spokesperson said the company was reviewing the ACCC's claims and would respond with more detail in due course.
In one incident alleged by the ACCC, a person with an intellectual disability was sold an expensive phone with a business contract under a false ABN as well as a new NBN plan and accessories.
They were left upset and embarrassed by the unnecessary purchases, but staff allegedly refused to cancel the contracts until a financial counsellor became involved.
