Australian restaurant chain Pizza Hut has been fined $2.5 million for sending more than 10 million spam marketing texts and emails in four months.
An investigation by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) found that between January and May last year, the pizza chain sent 5.94 million texts and emails to customers who hadn’t consented or had withdrawn their consent to receive marketing.
A further 4.36 million marketing messages were sent without the option to unsubscribe.
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“Some of the customers involved had attempted to unsubscribe several times and received multiple messages after trying to stop them,” ACMA member Samantha Yorke said.
“The public expects more from businesses who are using their data. They have a right not to be sent marketing messages if they haven’t consented or have chosen to unsubscribe.”
She said there was “no excuse” for not adhering to Australia’s spam laws, which have been in place for over 20 years.
“It is particularly disappointing when well-known businesses with large customer bases fail to meet their obligations in the way Pizza Hut has.”
Pizza Hut has also committed to appointing an independent consultant to review and improve its compliance with the rules and to report regularly back to the ACMA.
Pizza Hut is the latest in a string of companies that have fallen foul of Australia’s spam laws.
Other major Australian companies caught out by the rules in the past year include Kmart, Uber, Ticketek and the Commonwealth Bank, with the latter receiving a record $3.55 million fine in June last year.
Businesses have paid fines totalling more than $15 million in spam and telemarketing penalties in the past 18 months.
