Powershop Australia Pty Ltd (Powershop) has paid eight infringement notices totalling $542,400 issued by the AER for alleged breaches of its life support obligations under the National Energy Retail Rules (the Retail Rules).
The AER issued the infringement notices as it had reasonable grounds to believe Powershop:
- failed to register three customers as requiring life support equipment when advised by each customer, in accordance with rule 124(1)(a) of the Retail Rules;
- failed to provide one customer with a life support information pack within the required timeframe, in accordance with rule 124(1)(b) of the Retail Rules;
- failed to notify the distributor in relation to three customers as requiring life support equipment when advised by each customer, in accordance with rule 124(1)(c) of the Retail Rules; and
- deregistered one life support customer without providing a deregistration notice, in accordance with rule 125(1) of the Retail Rules.
The alleged breaches were caused by a range of deficiencies with Powershop’s systems and failures by its agents.