Phonecard breach claim
The Age
Wednesday July 29, 2009
CUSTOMERS buying a phonecard from an Optus subsidiary would probably need to make a continuous 31-hour phone call to achieve the rates spruiked in the company's advertising, the consumer watchdog claims.The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is taking the Optus-owned Prepaid Services and its partner Boost to the Federal Court for what it alleges are breaches of the Trade Practices Act in the promotion of its international pre-paid cards.According to court documents lodged by the ACCC, Boost claimed phone cards would offer a certain number of minutes of call time and a particular rate per minute that could only be achieved if one continuous call was made €” which, for some destinations, would last 31 hours €” or calls were precisely one or five minutes in length.The regulator is asking the court to declare the claims illegal and for Boost to run corrective advertisements as well as fulfil a "community service order" that would involve sending notice of the ruling to its 20 largest competitors. An Optus spokeswoman said the telco was surprised the ACCC "has resorted to litigation".
© 2009 The Age
