Telstra increases paper bill fees

From 28 November 2015, Telstra increased its charge for receiving a paper bill from $2 to $3.20.The $3.20 fee also applies for customers paying a bill in person or via mail.Customers who receive a paper bill and pay in person (or via mail) will be charged a total of $3.20.There are exemptions to this charge. Customers won’t be charged the non-electronic payment fee if they:

• Are registered for Telstra's Pensioner Discount or Disability Equipment Program or hold an Australian Government Health Care Card;
• Use the Telstra Bill Assistance Program Certificate; or
• Don’t have an email address or internet access. However, customers must pay their bill via automatic Direct Debit, PayPal or Bpay to avoid the $3.20 non-electronic processing fee.

POAAL successfully lobbied against the across-the-board introduction of fees for paying Telstra bills at the post office under the previous federal Labour government. We will take up the cudgels on this again.It is unfair for a company to discriminate against customers who have no access to internet technology or choose not to use the internet to receive and pay their bills.Click here for a summary of Telstra's bill charges.