Origin is now the third energy retailer known to have wrongly received money via Centrepay from vulnerable and low-income Australians after they had ceased being customers.
A spokesperson confirmed Origin had identified “issues relating to payments made through the Centrepay scheme”. “For example, a customer may set up a regular deduction for their energy provider and forget to update their Centrepay deduction when they move house,” he said. “Here we are, 10 years later, with ongoing reports of people overpaying for services and products,” Allingham said.
“Labor needs to be transparent with Australians about precisely which companies are under investigation for this egregious practice, and how many people have been so horribly exploited,” she said.