AGL ordered to pay $25m penalty in Centrepay proceedings
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The news: The Federal Court has ordered that four subsidiaries of AGL Energy pay a total penalty of $25 million in proceedings brought by the Australian Energy Regulator (AER), after the electricity generator failed to notify and refund Centrepay customers within the required timeframe.
The numbers: The court determined that AGL breached the national energy retail rules by failing to appropriately notify and refund around 500 customers in relation to Centrepay payments.
AGL said the penalty will not impact its full-year guidance which remains unchanged, forecasting underlying EBITDA of between $1.87 billion and $2.17 billion, and underlying net profit of between $530 million and $730 million.
AGL shares were down 1.5% to $10.66 by 11am AEDT, having dipped to $10.54 during a weak trading day. The energy sector was down 1.76% while the ASX 200 plunged 1.9%.
The context: AGL said it is "disappointed that this issue occurred and apologises to the affected customers".
Since the issue was identified by AGL in mid-2020, the company has undertaking "significant process enhancements" to improve its handling of Centrepay payments, it said.
AGL said that the penalty is "significantly higher than expected" and it will review the court's judgement and consider whether to appeal.
Centrepay is a free and voluntary service for eligible Centrelink recipients to pay regular bills and expenses directly from their Centrelink payments.
The source: ASX announcement
