ASIC sues Telstra Super over complaint responses

The news: The corporate regulator has taken Telstra Super to court over its alleged failure to respond to customer complaints within required timeframes.

The numbers: The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has alleged Telstra Super received 337 superannuation complaints between 22 October 2021 and 13 January 2023, but failed to comply with notification requirements. It did not respond to 106 complainants within 45 days, didn’t inform 85 complainants about why there was a delay in responding to their complaint, and didn’t inform 22 complainants about their right to take their complaint to AFCA.

The context: ASIC commenced civil penalty proceedings in the Federal Court and is seeking declarations, pecuniary penalties and other orders against Telstra Super. It is alleging the super fund failed to comply with its internal procedures, sent delay notifications to complainants when it was not justified to do so, and did not have adequate resources to comply with its internal dispute resolution procedures.

What they said: “ASIC expects the financial services industry to have effective dispute resolution procedures in place, and, importantly, to have the systems and resourcing to ensure they are being put into practice,” ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court said.