Vodafone fined $110,000 for spam SMS messages

Telco giant Vodafone Hutchison Australia has been hit with the biggest fine ever received for breaching the Spam Act for sending unsolicited SMS messages during a marketing campaign for Coca-Cola.

The fine, handed out by the Australian Communications and Media Authority, was part of a series of unenforceable undertaking from VHA.

Beverage giant Coca-Cola has also been issued a warning by ACMA for allowing the spam messages to be delivered, while the authority also accepted enforceable undertakings from three other companies involved in the campaign.

The undertakings were accepted from telco giant Vodafone Hutchison Australia, New Dialogue and Big Mobile for breaches of the Spam Act while engaging in a marketing campaign for Coca-Cola products.

ACMA has accepted enforceable undertakings from VHA with a financial component of $110,000, the largest ever fine for a breach of the Spam Act.

Approximately 100,000 messages were sent during October last year, telling recipients to “reclaim your lunch hour with a friend. Escape with a Coca-Cola lunch break”.

But ACMA says the messages provided no information on how to “opt out” and also provided no contact information for either company, breaking regulations required by the Spam Act.

VHA has also undertaken to appoint an independent auditor to monitor its spam compliance, while employees will also undergo training to be informed about their responsibilities under the Spam Act.

Coca-Cola has also been issued a formal warning by ACMA for causing commercial electronic messages to be sent without the ability to unsubscribe.

However, the company maintains it was not responsible for sending the messages.

“Although Coca-Cola provided materials for the message, it provided senior legal opinion to ACMA it was not in breach of the act,” a Coke spokesman said in a statement.

“If we were utilising third-party data bases to send messages in the future, we would require visibility of the entire message… and the inclusion of an opt out.”

Additionally, media agency New Dialogue and content aggregator Big Mobile have also accepted enforceable undertakings for their part in the campaign.

New Dialogue has paid a fine of $22,000, while Big Mobile will pay compensation to each recipient of any message in breach of the Spam Act. Details of this compensation have not been released.

ACMA chairman Chris Chapman said in a statement there was “no excuse” for the companies involved to fall short of their obligations.

“VHA, New Dialogue and Big Mobile are businesses which by their very nature are heavily involved in SMS marketing campaigns,” he said.

“The ACMA nonetheless notes their commitment to the process of achieving compliance with the requirements of the Spam Act. I would keenly hope that their actions and responses provide a sobering reminder to all of the players in the SMS marketing industry about the importance of compliance.”