On 19 December 2024, the Federal Court ordered that AGL Retail Energy Limited and three other subsidiaries of AGL Energy Limited (together, AGL) pay a total pecuniary penalty of $25 million for breaches of the National Energy Retail Rules (Retail Rules) and National Energy Retail Law (Retail Law) by failing to inform and refund customers for overcharges obtained from Centrepay payments.
In proceedings brought by the Australian Energy Regulator (AER), the Federal Court found that between 9 January 2017 and 28 October 2021, AGL contravened:
- rule 31(1) of the Retail Rules on 3,531 occasions by failing to inform the affected customers of the overcharges within the specified timeframe,
- rule 31(2) of the Retail Rules on 3,531 occasions by failing to refund overcharges of $50 or more as required,
- rule 31(3) of the Retail Rules on 9,094 occasions on by failing to refund overcharges of less than $50 as required, and
- section 273 of the Retail Law on one occasion, in relation to the rule 31 contraventions.
The Federal Court also ordered three of the AGL subsidiaries to establish and implement a compliance program, and maintain it for 3 years, to improve the way they deal with overcharging of inactive customers related to Centrepay.
The penalty decision was handed down on 19 December 2024. Read the judgment here.