Commerce Commission files against Mercury NZ

The Commerce Commission has filed seven charges against Mercury NZ under the Fair Trading Act alleging the country’s thirdlargest electricity provider misled customers.

The commission said Mercury told some residential energy customers they were required to pay an early termination fee, when they were not.

Mercury, which provides electricity and gas services to about 300,000 households, changed its terms and conditions in 2016 meaning some customers could terminate their plans without paying an early termination fee.

Despite this, Mercury charged some customers $150 termination fees when it had no right to do so, the commission said.

This happened to customers who ended their fixed-term energy plans after their initial plan period had finished, and the plan automatically renewed, the commission said.

The period covered by its charges was between 2017 and 2020.

A spokesperson for Mercury said the company had sincerely apologised to customers.

The commission also alleged some customers were incorrectly told that an early termination fee would be charged if customers wanted to switch providers or that the fee would be waived if they remained with Mercury.

Vanessa Horne, general manager of fair trading at the commission, said Mercury had an obligation to ensure that staff knew its contract terms, and stuck to them so that customers were not misled.

Almost all customers who were incorrectly charged and paid an early termination fee have been refunded by Mercury, she said.

A spokesperson for Mercury said: ‘‘We have co-operated fully with the Commerce Commission throughout its investigation.’’

Last year, the company sincerely apologised to customers, refunded the early termination fees, and made a ‘‘small’’ additional payment in acknowledgment of its error, the spokesperson said. The first hearing in the case is expected on August 16.