Business

Who will get the $25 million refund from Telstra?

Published

12 months ago

July 7, 2021

Anthony Lucas

Australia’s largest telco Telstra will refund a huge $25 million dollars to its customers

Regulators have ordered Telstra to refund almost 50-thousand customers over failed internet speeds.

An ACMA investigation found between September 2018 and October 2020 the telco failed to suitably notify customers of issues. These issues included under-performing internet speeds and plan options.

Under ACMA rules, telecommunication companies must verify maximum internet speeds. They also must notify customers when speeds cannot meet those advertised in their plan.

In those circumstances, customers are entitled to move to a lower speed tier plan at a cheaper price or exit the contract without cost.

“The ACMA is very concerned with this conduct as these customers have been paying for a level of service they were not receiving,”
ACMA chair Nerida O’Loughlin said in a statement

The ACMA expects Telstra to dish out around $25 million in refunds. However, that figure includes other cases not included in the watchdog investigation.

“Telstra denied these customers the opportunity to downgrade their plan or exit their contract.”

Telstra must also implement a range of processes and reporting to assure future compliance with ACMA rules. The Aussie telco faces additional penalties of up to $10 million if it doesn’t comply with the direction.

Business

Germany recalls Tesla models due to emergency fault

Published

18 hours ago

July 4, 2022

William Howard

Tesla is in the spotlight again, with Germany’s road traffic agency recalling models Y and 3 due to a fault in the automatic emergency call system

It’s a fault that could possibly impact around 59,000 vehicles globally.

Germany’s watchdog says a software flaw is causing a breakdown of the e-Call, a system designed to alert authorities after a serious accident.

The glitch follows the company delivered almost 18 per cent fewer electric vehicles in the second quarter than in the previous.

This is largely due to China’s Covid-19-related shutdowns and the ongoing supply chain crunch.

Meanwhile, CEO Elon Musk says Tesla’s new factories in both Texas and Berlin are “losing billions of dollars”.

Business

World’s first city to charge tourists for visiting

Published

18 hours ago

July 4, 2022

Brittany Coles

If you’re lucky to be heading abroad this summer, a visit to the famous canals in Venice, Italy might be on your itinerary, but beware of new fees to come.

Venice will charge most of its visitors an entry fee from next year as it tries to tackle overcrowding.

The city’s tourism chief says Venice are pioneers and will be the first city in the world to apply a measure that could be revolutionary.

From mid January next year, day-trippers must book their visit online before travelling.

They will pay a basic fee of 3 euro, which will rise to 10 euro at peak times.

Tourism is bouncing back in Venice after the pandemic with daily visitors again often outnumbering the 50-thousand residents of the city centre.

The scheme will be closely watched by other popular tourist destinations, overwhelmed with travellers around the world.

Business

Pubs in UK declining by thousands, new research

Published

18 hours ago

July 4, 2022

Brittany Coles

It’s no secret Brit’s love their Pub Grub, but plating up Bangers and Mash is a tradition on the decline

The number of pubs in England and Wales is continuing to fall, hitting its lowest level on record this year

After struggling through Covid the industry now faced soaring prices and higher energy costs, it warned.

There were just under 40-thousand pubs in June, down by 7,000 in the past decade, according to new research.

In fact, thousands of pubs have closed as younger people drink less, supermarkets sell cheaper alcohol and the industry complains of being too heavily taxed.

Pubs which had “disappeared” from the communities they once served had either been demolished or converted for other purposes, meaning that they were “lost forever”.