EVERY now and then, we gather up the assorted ongoing household bills and get in touch with providers to make sure we’re getting the best deals.
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As we all know, service providers probably won’t tell you when your “plan” or contract has expired and there are quite likely now better deals available, but they will be quicker than Usain Bolt when it comes to slapping you with any extra fees they’ve dreamed up.
Clearly this is a source of frustration for Labor Senator Sam Dastyari, who this week is calling out service providers for the practice of billing people to receive a posted paper bill.
In print and on radio this week, Senator Dastyari made the point that “fees that, more often than not, end up being levied against older Australians and those who are most vulnerable”.
“These days Australian consumers are expected to fork out anywhere between 50 cents and $2.50 to receive a paper bill. Companies like CBA ($2.50), Foxtel ($2) and iPrimus ($2.20) are into it; Energy Australia, AGL, and Origin Energy all charge $1.75 per bill. Even the NSW Government will charge e-Toll account holders $2.20 shortly,” the senator has written.
As Senator Dastyari has suggested, it is all part of what he calls the “digital divide”.
“While the internet and email has improved our lives beyond recognition, not all Australians have shared in its benefits. There are 1.3 million households without internet access. According to the ABS, only 46 per cent of people over 65 use the internet. Almost 60 per cent of households with incomes under $40,000 do not have an internet connection,” he has said.
“On the wrong side of the digital divide are some of the most vulnerable households in Australia; those with the lowest incomes, those managing disabilities, living on pensions or in remote communities. These households are penalised because they do not have any other option.
“They are charged extra across the full range of services - banking, telecommunications, electricity, gas, water - all by providers who were offered paper billing services for free only a few years ago.”
Senator Dastyari has made an excellent point when he asks when it became acceptable to slug customers with the cost of sending out bills.
I have no objection to email and direct debits being utilised to sending out customers’ bills.
Indeed, for many of us, it’s the most convenient way to receive an account.
But it seems to me that slugging people with ongoing fees to receive a bill in the fashion they have traditionally received them crosses a line somewhere.
Surely postage is one of the costs of doing business?
It certainly feels even more heartless when you consider that the people who are still receiving paper bills are those who are probably some of society’s most vulnerable.
Let’s face it, if you have to choose between having the internet at home or feeding your household, it’s going to be a no-brainer.
Senator Dastyari says the government is currently undertaking a review of Australian consumer law and has suggested these fees should be included in the material being examined.
Sounds like a sensible, reasonable suggestion to me, but I guess we’ll have to see whether the government is interested in acting on something that has come from the opposite side of the house.