Telecom mobile users due for a refund

The Commerce Commission has dropped a prosecution of Telecom Mobile after the company agreed to refund thousands of its customers who were incorrectly billed.

The commission and Telecom have reached a settlement where Telecom has agreed to credit about 11,000 affected 027 mobile customers a total of $54,000.

The commission said the amount represented $27,000 for the costs of the affected calls and the same again in compensation for customers.

A billing fault meant time shown on customers' phones, which is set by Telecom, was not synchronised with time recorded by the billing system. This caused thousands of customers to be charged peak rates for off-peak calls.

Calls made just after 7pm, in off-peak time, were recorded as being made just before 7pm, in peak time.

The billing fault occurred between July 1, 2001, and February 28, 2002.

- NZPA