Australia Post will provide an estimated $2.9 million in compensation to thousands of customers for lost or damaged parcels.
The consumer watchdog has accepted a court-enforceable undertaking from Australia Post and StarTrack to provide compensation for lost or damaged parcels to approximately 10,500 business contract customers and fewer than 1000 recipients of StarTrack deliveries.
Over a four-year period, Australia Post Group failed to accept some compensation claims from business contract customers for lost and damaged items.
Business contract customers were wrongly told they were not eligible for compensation.
Under Australian law, consumers may request a remedy if a product is not of acceptable quality or a service is not performed with due care and skill, is fit for purpose or is not provided within a reasonable time.
Thousands of customers will receive compensation from Australia Post after the national postal service was ordered to pay $2.9 million in compensation to customers who lost or received their parcels in a damaged condition (stock image)
The postal delivery service incorrectly told business contract customers that they are not eligible for compensation for the damaged items (stock image)
Certain transport services on behalf of a business were exempt, but this was changed in October 2018, guaranteeing the duties applicable to the transport of goods to a recipient who was not carrying on a business related to the goods.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said Australia Post had not properly applied the amended exemption before the company reported the breach in May 2023.
“Australia Post Group's failure to provide business customers with the remedies they were entitled to is deeply concerning, but we recognize that Australia Post self-reported this conduct to the ACCC,” Commissioner Liza Carver said on Tuesday.
“We are pleased that Australia Post Group has committed to providing compensation for this error and putting systems in place to ensure similar errors are not made in the future.”
Approximately 10,500 business contract customers and nearly 1,000 StarTrack recipients had packages that were lost or damaged (stock image)
Australia Post will contact affected business contract customers and recipients of StarTrack deliveries with instructions on how to make a claim.
Once contacted, they have six months to file a claim.
The compensation can consist of a credit to their Australia Post account, a payment to a designated bank account or a cheque.