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Telstra drops counter bill fee

Posted on November 4, 2009, 12:12pm

Telstra has announced it will drop its $2.20 administration fee introduced in September for bill payments made over the counter or by mail.

Telstra chief executive David Thodey said the decision came after listening to feedback from customers and shareholders.

Liberal MP Patrick Secker strongly opposed the introduction of the fee when it was announced, and told The Border Watch he received more than 100 letters from constituents concerned at the impact the new fee charge would have on small post offices.

Mr Secker said the charges on accounts paid at Australia Post offices would force people to pay bills over the phone or by internet, causing a major loss of business to many rural post offices.

Telstra’s move to drop the fee will be implemented over the next few months and current customers will be refunded all of the bill payment administration fees paid since the new charge was first introduced on September 14.

“While others in our industry still charge for cash payments over the counter, Telstra will now look for other ways to encourage customers to move to electronic payments, possibly including the introduction of optional electronic-only plans,” Mr Thodey said.

“I have listened to the community debate and believe that the way we introduced the fee did not align with our commitment to put customers back at the heart of our business.

“It is now clear to me that introducing this fee across our existing plans was the wrong way to encourage customers to move to electronic payments.

“We designed the fee in a way that exempted more than a million elderly, pensioners and disadvantaged people but it was still unacceptable to many of our customers.

“We do still invite our customers to consider using electronic payments because it can save time and reduce costs.”

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  1. Peter on November 4th, 2009 5:09 pm 1

    It’s good to see that Telstra has come to their senses, one can only hope that the Banks can do the same and drop their fees!

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