Spark pleads guilty to Fair Trading Act breaches

Spark has pleaded guilty to breaching the Fair Trading Act, despite previously suggesting the Commerce Commission was being heavyhanded in pressing charges. The competition watchdog laid 11 charges against the telecommunications company in July for overcharging current and former customers a total of some hundreds of thousands of dollars. Spark managing director Simon Moutter said at the time it was disappointed by the charges, saying they stemmed from ‘‘genuine mistakes’’ that Spark had tried to put right. It had hoped to avoid court proceedings by acknowledging the mistakes and offering money to charity. Spark has said the overbilling stemmed from the incorrect implementation of a ‘‘welcome credit’’ for 463 customers who signed up to ultra-fast broadband in 2016, and an issue relating to a 30-day notice period when customers left.