{"id":108183,"date":"2025-12-23T07:31:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T20:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/?p=108183"},"modified":"2025-12-22T19:58:48","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T08:58:48","slug":"energy-scandal-wrong-bills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/energy-scandal-wrong-bills\/","title":{"rendered":"Energy Scandal: Thousands of Australians Hit with Wrong Bills"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Thousands of Australians are facing the frustrating reality of being overcharged by one of the country\u2019s biggest energy providers. The company now stands accused of taking millions of dollars from customers who had already paid their bills \u2014 sparking outrage and a looming court battle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Overcharges Affecting Thousands<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Origin Energy is being taken to the Federal Court after the Australian Energy Regulator (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aer.gov.au\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">AER<\/a>) accused the company of overcharging more than 3,400 customers, totalling around $2.5 million. The alleged conduct took place over several years, between December 2019 and March 2025, and could amount to more than 77,000 separate breaches of national energy laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the regulator, customers who used Centrepay, a government service that allows people to pay bills directly from <a href=\"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/this-hidden-centrelink-scheme\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Centrelink<\/a> benefits, were wrongly charged even after their accounts were closed or balances settled. In one extreme case, a customer was reportedly overcharged $11,000 over a two-year period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The regulator says these errors were not just technical slip-ups \u2014 they reflect a pattern of behaviour that disproportionately affected Australians already experiencing financial hardship. Many of the customers caught up in the issue were using Centrepay to stay on top of essential bills like energy and rent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Energy Regulator Steps In<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The AER\u2019s legal action targets four of Origin\u2019s subsidiaries and claims the company breached the National Energy Retail Rules and National Energy Retail Law. The watchdog alleges that Origin knew about the overcharging problem but delayed implementing a fix, allowing the issue to continue for years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The AER has asked the court to impose penalties, order customer compensation, and require an independently reviewed compliance program. Chair Claire Savage said the alleged conduct was particularly troubling because it affected vulnerable customers who could have used that money for essentials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Energy company Origin faces court for alleged breach of laws over 77,000 times in relation to a Centrelink scandal that saw millions taken from welfare recipients. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) claims that the ex-customers affected were already\u2026<\/p>&mdash; NEWSCNDL (@newscndl) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/newscndl\/status\/2002969053778804761?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">December 22, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Origin Responds<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In response to the allegations, Origin Energy has publicly apologised. The company said it first identified and self-reported the issue in 2021, working with Services Australia to return funds to affected customers. It claims to have improved its systems and procedures to better manage Centrepay deductions in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>An Origin spokesperson said the company had made \u201c<em>extensive improvements<\/em>\u201d to prevent a repeat of the incident and had worked closely with regulators throughout the process, reports <a href=\"https:\/\/au.finance.yahoo.com\/news\/major-energy-provider-overcharged-thousands-041502234.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Yahoo Finance<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A Matter of Trust<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The case now heads to the Federal Court, where the outcome could shape how major energy providers manage customer payments in the future. For thousands of Australians, particularly those struggling to make ends meet, this isn\u2019t just about compensation \u2014 it\u2019s about fairness and accountability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As the legal proceedings unfold, the controversy serves as a reminder that even large, trusted companies can fall short in safeguarding the finances of those who depend on them most. And in a cost-of-living crisis, every dollar counts \u2014 especially for those who can least afford to lose it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An Australian energy provider faces scrutiny after allegations of overcharging customers spark legal action and raise questions about accountability.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":108184,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-108183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33","no-featured-image-padding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108183"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108183\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":108186,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108183\/revisions\/108186"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}