Greater Western Water customers could get credits of up to $240 after billing blunders

Tens of thousands of Victorians could receive up to $240 in credits as part of a proposed $130m compensation package, after “one of the biggest ever public utility failures in Victoria”.

Thousands of customers are in line for credits after a litany of billing blunders from Greater Western Water.

Disaffected customers of Greater Western Water could get credits of up to $240 as part of a proposed $130m redress scheme after a litany of billing blunders.

The water corporation is proposing to waive about $75m in unbilled charges in 2024 and also provide about $55m in customer credits.

The plan is in response to continued billing problems since May last year after GWW combined two invoicing systems following the merger of Western Water and City West Water in 2021.

The failures included suspending quarterly billing for customers, issuing incomplete or incorrect bills and suspending direct debit without notice.

The company has more than 620,000 customers in areas including the Melbourne CBD, most suburbs west of the Yarra and locations north to Lancefield.

The water corporation is proposing to waive about $75m in unbilled charges in 2024.

Attempts to fix the problems failed with the Herald Sun reporting in July that more than 110,000 households still didn’t have their correct water bills after more than a year.

The proposed undertaking would mean that GWW must not recover charges for any unissued bills for 2024 and provide an $80 credit to customers who have received a delayed bill for 2024 charges if the delay between bills was more than seven months.

Also a credit of between $80 and $240 would apply for customers who received a delayed bill for charges incurred for use from January 2025 to June 2026, depending on how delayed the bill is.

And the 70,000 customers who had their direct-debit feature suspended without notice would receive an $80 credit.

The state’s utilities regulator the Essential Services Commission will have to approve the proposal.

Commission chair Gerard Brody said Greater Western Water had been put on notice in September 2024.

“Unfortunately, billing issues have persisted, and customers have been left in limbo,’’ Mr Brody said.

“Our priority is securing redress for affected customers, while ensuring accountability and a clear path back to normal billing.’’

Customers were left in limbo.

He said the proposed $130m redress scheme reflected “the scale of the failures and the need to protect customers from bill shock”.

“It’s only right that customers affected by Greater Western Water’s billing issues have their say on the proposal to temporarily exempt it from the quarterly billing requirement while it fixes its billing issues. We welcome feedback from the community.”

One customer told the Herald Sun said the problem was “one of the biggest ever public utility failures in Victoria”.

Energy and Water Ombudsman Catherine Wolthuizen had said that her office had launched five separate investigations last year into GWW’s systemic issues.

The office had last year received more than five times the number of GWW complaints – 1864 – than the previous year.