Telcos face stiffer penalties for misleading customers

Key points

• Telecommunications companies face fines of more than $10 million for breaching industry codes, up from $250,000, under new federal laws. The changes to the Telecommunications Act also let the Australian Communications and Media Authority act swiftly against telcos found to have done the wrong thing.
• Fines will be based on the benefit gained from a breach or the offending telco's turnover.
• Communications Minister Anika Wells said the law sets clear rules for how telcos must support customers facing financial hardship or domestic, family and sexual violence.