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How can I monitor my usage?

 
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Your phone company must provide information on its website about how you can monitor and manage your call, SMS and data usage. These are called ‘usage monitoring tools’. You should also be told how up-to-date the information on your usage monitor is. Sometimes usage within Australia might take a certain number of hours to show up on your usage monitor or a couple of days if you called or texted someone overseas.

Notifications

From 1 September 2013, if you have a post-paid plan, your phone company must tell you by SMS or email when you reach 50%, 85% or 100% of your call, SMS or data allowance.

  • The notifications must be free and made no later than 48 hours after you reach those usage points. The notification does not include calls or SMS to overseas or usage outside Australia.
  • When you’ve used up 100% of your monthly allowance, your phone company must also tell you how much extra calls and texts will cost now that you’ve finished your allowance.

WARNING:

It’s important not to rely on notifications and keep track of your spending yourself. This is because the information in the text notifications can be up to 48 hours old. So when you receive an alert, you may have already gone over your monthly allowance.

Spend management tools

Apart from notifications, your phone company must offer you at least one other tool to help you manage your spending. Your phone company may offer you:

o A hard cap

o A tool which lets you bar or restrict services on your mobile (e.g. call or premium SMS)

o Slowing down the speed of the internet on your mobile when your monthly allowance is used up instead of charging you more. This is known as throttling.


 Last reviewed June 2013






 


                


                    
						
						


	

		
			

			  
Send your questions to Lawmail

			
			  

			
			  

			
			  
Can't find the info you are looking for? Got a problem you can’t solve?

			
			  
If you're under 25, or an adult asking on behalf of a person under 18, you can send your questions to Lawmail and we will email an answer to you within 10 days. Urgent matters are dealt with more quickly.

			
			  
Go to Lawmail. It’s free and confidential.