Tyro Payments Ltd (ASX: TYR) has accepted a 2-year court-enforceable undertaking to remedy breaches of the Spam Act.
An Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) discovered the fintech illegally sent more than 150,000 spam email and text messages in the last 2 years.
The communications breached the law because they didn't include an unsubscribe function.
ACMA deputy chair Creina Chapman said the entire finance sector is on notice after Tyro's breach.
"Australians should not receive marketing messages they haven't consented to, and they must be able to easily withdraw their consent when they choose," she said.
"The Spam Act has been in place for 17 years and provides important protections to consumers."
The law covers SMS, email and phone marketing, and is a current priority for ACMA because of "the serious harms that can be involved".
Tyro declined to comment to The Motley Fool.
The saga started after a customer complained about the payment company's spamming to ACMA earlier this year. A subsequent internal investigation confirmed the breaches, which Tyro admitted to the authority.
Image source: Getty Images
What has Tyro agreed to do?
The court-enforceable undertaking directs Tyro to hire an independent consultant to review its customer communications, implement the review recommendations, perform auditing and train staff on the Spam Act.
If this undertaking is breached, the Federal Court can force the company into action and order it to pay a fine equivalent to the financial benefit it derived.
"Although it's clear that [Tyro's] practices and systems were not adequate to comply with the spam laws, its actions since receiving our alert are appropriate to address the issues," said Chapman.
"However, the ACMA will not hesitate to pursue more serious enforcement action, including financial penalties, in appropriate cases."
The last 12 months has seen companies pay more than $1.7 million in penalties for ACMA-enforced breaches of the spam and telemarketing laws.
The Tyro share price was down 0.95%, trading at $3.14 at the time of writing. It has lost almost 18% this month.
