10 June 2019
The Commerce Commission has issued internet provider MyRepublic with a formal warning after it failed to meet its
statutory obligations to provide information needed by the Commission to allocate the Telecommunications Development
Levy (TDL).
The $50m TDL is paid by larger telecommunications firms and is used by Government to pay for telecommunications
infrastructure, including the relay service for the deaf and hearing-impaired, broadband for rural areas and
improvements to 111 emergency calling services. Under the Telecommunications Act, liable companies must provide the
Commission with audited financial information that the Commission can use to apportion the levy.
Telecommunications Commissioner Dr Stephen Gale said MyRepublic failed to provide accurate financial information, and an
auditor’s report, within the statutory timeframe. The information it eventually provided did not meet the specified
requirements.
“The efficiency and integrity of the TDL allocation depends on liable companies providing complete and accurate
information to ensure the levy is split in the correct proportions. Where one company doesn’t meet its obligations, it
can affect all the others that have,” Dr Gale said.
As outlined in the warning letter, the Commission decided to issue a warning as MyRepublic has previously been
compliant; it was liable for the TDL for the first time in 2017/18; its conduct was otherwise not serious; and the
auditor assurance it provided in December 2018 was sufficient for the Commission to make the liability allocation
determination in a way that did not impact other liable companies. The Commission will take this warning into account if
MyRepublic engages in the same or similar conduct in the future.
A copy of the warning letter has been published on the Commission’s case register.
An overview of the TDL and how it is calculated can be found here.
Background
The information disclosure requirements on companies liable to pay the TDL are set out in section 83 of the
Telecommunications Act. Enforcement responses available to the Commission where a or company has failed, without
reasonable excuse, to comply with section 83 are:
• issue a written warning;
• serve a civil infringement notice under section 156D incorporating a penalty of $2,000; or
• apply to the High Court for an order requiring payment of a pecuniary penalty to the Crown. The High Court can
impose a penalty of up to $300,000 for each breach.
ends