Energy retailer Engie pays almost $1.7M in penalties for family violence and reporting failures
20 September 2024
Energy retailers IPower Pty Limited and IPower 2 Pty Limited (trading in partnership as Engie, and formerly known as Simply Energy), have paid penalties totalling $1,676,104 for alleged breaches of Victorian energy rules related to family violence provisions and performance reporting.
In 2023, a financial counsellor informed the commission that they considered Engie had not followed rules about protecting the accounts of customers affected by family violence.
The commission gathered evidence that Engie had failed to:
Prevent the disclosure or provision of confidential information about customers affected by family violence without their consent.
Take reasonable steps to find out an affected customer’s preferred method of communication, or offer practical alternatives if their preferred method was not practicable.
Provide customer service assistance that avoided the need for a customer affected by family violence to repeatedly disclose or refer to their experience.
These failures affected 65 customers affected by family violence on 113 occasions between January 2020 and March 2024.
The commission issued Engie $1,294,440 in penalty notices for its alleged failures related to family violence provisions.
Essential Services Commission Chairperson Gerard Brody says customers affected by family violence have an entitlement to safe, supportive and flexible assistance from an energy retailer which appropriately manages their personal and financial security.
“The family violence provisions in Victoria’s energy rules are among the most important the commission administers. Victorian consumers should be able to have confidence that their energy businesses will follow the rules and have appropriate systems and processes in place to protect their account information.
“The failure of an energy retailer to adhere to family violence provisions deprives customers affected by family violence of the crucial protections they are entitled to and has potential to jeopardise customer safety.
“In issuing penalties of almost $1.7 million, we are sending a strong message to Engie and all energy retailers. Victorian consumers have some of the strongest consumer protections in the country, and the Essential Services Commission won’t hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action when businesses don’t meet those standards,” Commissioner Brody said.
Protecting customers experiencing vulnerability, including those who are affected by family violence, is an enduring priority for the commission.
Water and energy businesses in Victoria are obligated to assist customers affected by family violence. These businesses must protect customer information, ensure access to payment assistance, and provide customers with connections to specialist family violence services.
In addition to its alleged family violence failings, the commission has issued Engie a further $381,664 in penalty notices after it allegedly contravened its reporting obligations 20 times between December 2021 and April 2024.
Failing to provide accurate and timely performance reports jeopardises the integrity of the data the commission uses to take targeted actions to protect energy consumers.
Get help
If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, call triple zero (000).
If you have a complaint about your energy business:
contact your energy business directly — if the issue can’t be resolved at the first point of contact ask for it to be escalated to a more senior manager.
contact the Energy and Water Ombudsman (Victoria) for a free and informal dispute resolution service if you cannot resolve the issue with your water business yourself.
If you or someone you know is affected by family violence:
Are You Safe at Home? provides resources around family violence and where to go for help.
