A huge bill for extra data or international roaming arrives, and you never got a warning you were close to your limit. Australia's Telecommunications Consumer Protections Code requires those warnings — and telcos have been penalised for skipping them.
What the TCP Code requires
Under the Telecommunications Consumer Protections (TCP) Code, registered with the ACMA, mobile providers must send usage notifications — commonly called spend management alerts — when a customer reaches 50%, 85% and 100% of their voice, SMS or data allowance. The 100% notification must also tell the customer what charges will apply if they continue using the service beyond their included allowance. For international mobile roaming specifically, the same 50/85/100% alert structure applies to the value of a roaming pack.
The 48-hour catch
Providers have a 48-hour window to actually send these notifications once a threshold is reached, and you can still be charged for usage during that window even if the alert hasn't landed yet. This is a genuine gap in the protection — a large usage spike right at the threshold can still generate real charges before the warning arrives.
What happens when a telco fails to send alerts entirely
Failing to send required alerts is a breach of the TCP Code, and ACMA has taken real enforcement action over it. In one case, a major telco failed to notify over 150,000 mobile broadband customers they were approaching their data quota because notifications were sent to a device number that couldn't receive them — a clear TCP Code breach. Following ACMA's intervention, the telco refunded affected customers who had been charged excess usage fees. A code breach doesn't automatically cancel a charge on its own, but it is strong grounds for a dispute, and ACMA's own enforcement history shows telcos have refunded customers once a failure is established.
How to dispute an excess usage or roaming charge
- Check your account or app for a record of whether usage alerts were actually sent, and when.
- If no alert was sent, or it went to a channel you couldn't access (like a disconnected number), document this clearly.
- Raise a complaint with your provider citing the TCP Code's usage notification requirement specifically.
- Ask for a waiver or refund of the excess charges caused by the missing alert.
- If your provider won't resolve it, escalate to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman.
What this means practically
- You're entitled to alerts at 50%, 85% and 100% of your allowance or roaming pack value — check your provider actually sent them before assuming a big bill is deserved.
- Real usage can still occur inside the 48-hour notification window, so alerts alone don't guarantee zero surprise charges.
- A documented failure to send required alerts is genuine leverage in a billing dispute, backed by ACMA's own enforcement record.
- Turning off mobile data manually once you're near your limit remains the most reliable way to avoid excess charges altogether.
Sources
- ACCC — Keeping mobile service costs down, usage notification requirements: accc.gov.au
- ACMA — International roaming usage alerts (50/85/100%): acma.gov.au
- channelnews — ACMA enforcement action over missed data usage notifications: channelnews.com.au
Related Kibbo Tools
- Telecom Billing Dispute Checklist — review your bill for excess usage charges and build the case for a dispute.