Kogan Mobile's acceptable-use policy claimed to be illegal

Friday 22 March 2013 @ 6.05 p.m. | Legal Research

In an article published today in the Sydney Morning Herald, little known telco, Kogan Mobile's Mobile's acceptable-use policy, which the company has been using to disconnect heavy-use mobile customers, has been branded as illegal.

Due to the way the policy was worded, "This breaches the 'unfair contract terms' rules in the Australian Consumer Law," Mr Moon, a Cooper Mills Lawyer said. "The days when a telco could say to residential/personal customers, 'The deal is whatever we say it is from time to time', are long over."

In recent years the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has cracked down on use of "unlimited", but said in relation to Kogan that it did not “ordinarily comment” on whether specific issues or businesses were being investigated. As recent as this month, the commission also cracked down on telcos, including Telstra and TPG, using unfair contract terms.

The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman said it had "received a small number of complaints" from Kogan consumers but could not give the total number until May, when it releases its quarterly statistics.

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