A new report from the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) has found that telcos are not doing enough to help customers experiencing financial hardship, and in some instances, are actually contributing to their customer’s money woes.
The report reviewed over 900 complaints the TIO had received between April 1, 2024 and March 30, 2025, which covered a full year since the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) introduced the new Telecommunications Financial Hardship Industry Standard.
From the report, the TIO drew three conclusions on how telcos are currently failing customers experiencing financial hardship:
- Telcos have a responsibility to help their customers stay connected to an essential service and manage their bills
- Telcos need to do more to comply with their financial hardship obligations
- Telcos are contributing to financial hardship
The TIO acknowledged that phone and internet are essential services that are critical for ensuring Australians stay connected and can participate in society.
“Access to phone and internet service should never be a luxury, it is an essential service that is vital to our everyday life,” Ombudsman Cynthia Gebert said.
“The consequences of losing access to your phone and internet can be serious, it can lead to people losing work and being unable to access critical support. From there, things can continue to spiral. Losing income and support services can compromise people’s food security, safety and health.”
Complaints made by customers to the TIO highlight that telco services are essential for a number of reasons. These include working from home, connecting to government support payments and fulfilling eligibility requirements, contacting family (including children, elderly parents and sick relatives). Telco access is also essential for customers living in areas prone to natural disasters and for those experiencing domestic and family violence.
The report found that the majority of financial hardship complaints (68.10%) were related to mobile services. This comes as more businesses and government services rely on mobile service for security checks, such as multi factor authentication.
Consumers often unaware of their telco’s financial hardship obligations
While the ACMA’s industry standard puts the obligation on telcos to promote and make financial hardship policies and processes easy for customers to access — along with proactively identifying customers who may be experiencing financial hardship — this isn’t always the case. For some, accessing financial hardship with their telco has proven to be difficult.
While consumers may not be aware of their telco’s financial hardship assistance, or be unsure of how to navigate the process, when consumers did reach out for support, many found this process difficult. In some cases, customers were met with challenges, such as unsympathetic responses, being transferred between different teams for hours and repeating their story each time, being on hold for several hours before the call was disconnected and being promised a callback which didn’t happen or didn’t happen for several days.
Telcos are not doing enough to support customers experiencing financial hardship — and may be making things worse
The difficulties that many consumers face when dealing with financial hardship, are also often exacerbated by the telcos themselves. In addition to juggling basic living expenses, medical costs and more, some customers find that the rising costs of telco services and instances of unexpected charges or changes to their billing date caused them to fall behind on payments.
The report found the most common complaint was telcos refusing customer requests for a payment extension or payment plan, including short-term extensions. In one case study, a telco customer used their savings to pay for a family member’s medical expenses and would be a few months behind on a payment. The customer believed their next pay cycle would cover the amount owing and asked for a five-day extension, which was denied by the telco.
Consumers were often made to provide extensive reasons and even documentation to support their need for assistance, and in some cases, were still charged late payment fees despite being granted an extension. Some customers had their debt referred to a debt collection agency.
Even when assistance was granted by the telcos, some customers were faced with payment plans that were unsuitable in their circumstances (the payments were too expensive, too frequent or only over a short period).
In some cases, consumers were told that they wouldn’t be able to get hardship assistance until they had missed a monthly payment and that the billing system would not allow for changes to bills or subscription plans that were not overdue. This conflicts with the TIO’s assurance that customers who were proactive in seeking assistance often experienced better outcomes and found it easier to get back on track with payments.
Some of the complaints the TIO received also highlighted that in some cases, the telcos were not complying with their own hardship arrangements.
“What we’re hearing from consumers about financial hardship is likely just the tip of the iceberg,” Ms Gebert said.
“We want people to feel confident that when they reach out to their telco for the help they are entitled to, they’ll get the support they need that is right for their circumstances. This isn’t optional, the rules are clear that telcos must do this.”
Cost of living pressures are impacting what customers can spend on mobile services
Research conducted by Canstar Blue in 2025 found that cost of living increases have impacted what 27% of survey respondents can spend on their mobile service. Our research also found that less than half of those surveyed (across SIM-only postpaid, prepaid and phone on a plan services) were able to comfortably afford the monthly costs of their phone plan.
While 43% of customers on prepaid services were able to comfortably afford their plan costs, prepaid services typically have a lower average phone bill cost ($25 per month) when compared to SIM-only postpaid plans ($44 per month) and phone-on-a-plan services ($82 per month). The number of customers able to comfortably afford their plan costs decreases across postpaid and phone-on-a-plan customers.
The TIO report cited instances where customers who wanted to move to a cheaper plan were unable to, as cancelling their current plan would require them to pay off their mobile device in one lump sum — a cost they would not be able to afford. Our research found that 31% of phone-on-a-plan customers were unable to do anything about their increased phone bill as they were locked into a contract.
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Additionally, of the 33% of phone-on-a-plan survey respondents who stated that cost of living pressures have impacted what they can spend on their plan, 16% of those had missed a payment, while only 6% had approached their telco for financial hardship assistance.
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What customers in hardship need to know
The TIO stresses that it does not handle complaints about telco price increases, but shows concern over the process that some of the providers use when changing prices, which can add financial pressure on customers. The report recommends that telcos work with consumers by looking at how they use their services in order to advise on options and low-cost alternatives that may be more affordable.
“The TIO’s report shows that despite ongoing regulator pressures, Aussie telcos aren’t always meeting their obligations towards customers with financial struggles,” Canstar Blue’s Utilities Editor Tara Donnelly said.
“While these new rules require telcos to offer more assistance options – and ensure that disconnection really is the last resort – there’s clearly more work to be done by providers to prevent vulnerable customers from falling further behind.
“The key takeaway for Australians is that you don’t have to struggle alone: if you’re concerned about your ability to pay a bill, your telco is required to help you. In times of financial stress, knowing your rights as a customer will put you in the best position to negotiate a fair outcome, so don’t be afraid to hold your provider’s feet to the fire.”
Image Source: Pormezz/Shutterstock.com
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