Retail service provider Activ8me has forked over $12,600 to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
The ACCC issued an infringement notice after the company, which sells NBN satellite services, allegedly engaged in false and misleading representations.
The consumer watchdog alleged that Activ8me had represented that its services had ACCC endorsement.
The ACCC said that Activ8me had described itself as having been “Named Australia’s #1 Sky MusterTM provider by the ACCC” between November 2017 and January 2018.
On its Facebook page, the RSP posted: “The ACCC have released their quarterly NBN Wholesale Market Indicators Report today, once again naming Activ8me the #1 provider of nbn Sky Muster satellite services in Australia”.
Activ8me posted the ACCC’s logo near both statements, the ACCC said.
“The ACCC does not endorse or approve particular businesses and it is imperative that consumers trust our name and logo when it is used,” ACCC commissioner Sarah Court said in a statement.
“As soon as we became aware of the misuse of our report findings and logo, we contacted Activ8me and issued an Infringement Notice. Activ8me has since removed the representations. This penalty serves as a warning to companies that we will act swiftly if they misrepresent the ACCC.”
Activ8me’s Facebook post and website statement followed the release in November of the ACCC’s quarterly NBN Wholesale Market Indicators Report, which provided a snapshot of the NBN market as of 30 September.
That report showed that Australian Private Networks, which trades as Activ8me, had captured almost 35 per cent of the NBN satellite market, with more than 27,000 services out of the almost 79,000 services in operation.
The next most popular provider of NBN satellite services was SkyMesh, with just under 19,000 services in operation.