Sprint Telco busted for transferring Telstra customers to its own network

Sprint Telco has been fined for allegedly misleading a customer to believe it was representing Telstra and transferring them to its own services.

The telecommunications provider was hit with a $10,800 penalty fee by the ACCC, which claims that in October, Sprint transferred a customer from Telstra to Sprint in a telemarketing call without authorisation.

The ACCC said it has reason to believe that Sprint represented itself as acting as a Telstra agent, when this was not the case.

ACCC acting chair Delia Rickard said that unauthorised transfers can lead to unexpected costs from early termination fees, cancellation fess, loss of discounts and reconnection costs.

"Consumers are entitled to make informed decisions about their choice of service provider. The ACCC will continue to act where consumers are switched, or attempted to be switched, from one telecommunications service provider to another without their express knowledge or informed consent," she said.

Sprint Telco's switchboard number is currently disconnected.

This isn't the first time Sprint has faced legal action this year. In May, the telco was ordered to pay $7200 to a former employee who claimed their wages and superannuation entitlements were underpaid.

In March, the ACCC took another telco and its sole director to court over similar allegations. SoleNet allegedly transferred customers between liquidated companies to other companies under his control without the customer's knowledge.

The payment of a penalty specified in an infringement notice is not an admission of a contravention of the Australian Consumer Law. The ACCC can issue an infringement notice where it has reasonable grounds to believe a person has contravened certain consumer protection laws.