Origin Energy has drawn the ire of the Australian Energy Regulator (AER), which alleges breaches of rules in relation to the retailer continuing to receive payments from Centrepay customers who had closed their accounts — paid in full.
I’ll first point out that SolarQuotes was acquired by Origin in December last year. However, we remain an independent business unit run by the same team prior to the acquisition.
What Is Centrepay?
Centrepay is a voluntary service for Centrelink customers, who can use it to arrange regular deductions from their payments to pay for goods and services from registered businesses — including energy retailers. Further information on Centrepay can be found here.
What Does The AER Allege Regarding Origin?
The AER alleges Origin failed to inform thousands of customers who had paid and closed their accounts that they had been overcharged payments, or refund them within the timeframe required by the National Energy Retail Rules.
“Many customers affected by this alleged conduct were likely experiencing economic vulnerability and could have otherwise used the money they were overcharged to spend on essentials,” said AER Chair Clare Savage.
More than 3,400 electricity and gas customers were reportedly affected between December 2019 and March 2025 says the Regulator, allegedly resulting in more than 77,000 breaches. The AER says Origin pocketed more than $2.5 million from impacted customers; one of whom was allegedly overcharged by more than $11,000 over a period of almost 2 years.
Under the National Energy Retail Rules (Rule 31), overcharged customers must be notified within 10 business days of the overcharge being identified by the retailer and then reimbursed; including those customers no longer being supplied by that particular retailer. The overcharge threshold is just $50.
The AER also alleges Origin breached National Energy Retail Law by failing to establish policies, systems and procedures to monitor compliance with the Retail Rules.
What Action Is The AER Taking?
The Australian Energy Regulator has instituted proceedings in the Federal Court against four Origin Energy subsidiaries and is seeking orders for financial penalties, declarations, customer remediation, a compliance program with an independent review, and costs.
The proceedings follow an AER investigation prompted by a referral from Services Australia in May 2024. Services Australia is a government agency delivering essential services such as Medicare, Centrelink, and Child Support.
Origin Not The Only One
Included in that referral were two other retailers allegedly behaving badly over Centrepay: Alinta Energy and AGL.
A separate AER investigation resulted in Alinta Energy Retail Sales Pty Ltd recently paying $1,089,000 in penalties for similar alleged conduct; involving customers across New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia between April 2019 and September 2024. The total overcharged amounts for each customer ranged from more than $100 to nearly $9,750.
In the AGL case, the Federal Court imposed a whopping $25 million penalty. The Federal Court found AGL had overcharged 483 Centrepay customers between 9 January 2017 and 28 October 2021. During that period, the court also found AGL contravened the relevant law over 16,000 times. On average, each customer was deprived of nearly $1,000.
“The record $25 million penalty reflects the seriousness of the breaches and serves as a warning that the AER expects all retailers to refund customers if they have been overcharged and to provide consumers the full protections afforded under the Rules,” said Ms. Savage at the time.
AGL appealed the decision, which was heard in November 2025. A decision from the Full Federal Court is still pending.
While on the topic of energy consumer protection, the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) in June this year announced new reforms; including stopping energy retailers from raising prices more than once annually, removing unfair fees for vulnerable customers, and ensuring hardship customers access to their retailer’s cheapest available deals.
Loyal to your electricity retailer? It might be costing you big bucks. Easily compare electricity plans here.
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