Telstra Mobile Costumers Ripped Off by Excessive Global Roaming Charges to Receive Refund

Mobile costumers of Telstra who were ripped off with excessive global roaming charges are set to receive refunds from the telecoms carrier.

A company audit conducted early this year discovered the error, Telstra on Friday said. It covered both current and former Telstra customers, with some dating back to as far as six years ago.

Telstra said it has started to send refund notices to affected customers who incurred the excessive data charges while travelling overseas.

The refunds could amount to as much as $30 million. The telecoms carrier, however, did not detail how many customers had been affected of the faulty computations.

"Once Telstra identified the issue, immediate steps were put in place to prevent further multiple charging," a Telstra spokesman said.

"Telstra is satisfied that every affected data session has been identified and Telstra is in the process of contacting affected customers to provide a full refund, with the majority now complete."

The spokesperson likewise said Telstra initiated to approach both the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to inform them of the matter.

"It is surprising that the inaccurate charging was undetected for six years and staggering to think of the number of bills Telstra will have had to review in order to provide refunds to consumer and business customers," Elise Davidson from the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) said. She likewise pondered on how Telstra would contact and inform ex-customers who are entitled to a refund but are no longer subscribed with the telecom service provider.

"All telecommunications customers need to be able to trust that their provider is billing them correctly."