Pizza Pan Group Pty Ltd in Australia has been fined A$2,502,500 ($1,670,531) by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) for sending more than 10 million marketing messages without consent during a four-month period – violating the Spam Act 2003.

Between January to May 2023, Pizza Hut sent out 5,941,109 texts and emails to customers who had not consented to receive them, or who had tried unsubscribing from marketing materials from the company.

ACMA also found that Pizza Hut sent 4,364,971 marketing messages without the option to unsubscribe during the same period.

According to ACMA member Samantha Yorke, this caused frustration for many who had tried opting out multiple times without luck.

“The spam rules have been in place for over 20 years and there is simply no excuse for failing to uphold the rights of consumers. It is particularly disappointing when well-known businesses with large customer bases fail to meet their obligations in the way Pizza Hut has,” Yorke said.

Earlier complaints

Pizza Hut’s marketing violations are believed to have breached:

• Spam Act section 16(1) for sending 5,941,109 commercial electronic messages (CEM) without consent, and for those sent after consent had been withdrawn between January 1 and May 4 2023;
• Spam Act section 18(1) for sending 4,364,971 CEMs without a function to unsubscribe (same period); and
• Spam Act 17(1)(b) for sending 100 CEMs without accurate sender information on January 3, 2023.

“The spam rules have been in place for over 20 years and there is simply no excuse for failing to uphold the rights of consumers.”

ACMA member Samantha Yorke

Besides paying the penalty, Pizza Hut has also accepted a comprehensive three-year court-enforceable undertaking to get an independent consultant to review and to make improvements where required. The company must also make regular reports to the ACMA.

“The penalties for breaching can be very serious and all companies that conduct e-marketing should check their compliance systems are working effectively so they’re not spamming customers,” Yorke said.

Prior this notice, ACMA sent 15 compliance alerts for Pizza Hut regarding 39 customer complaints which indicated earlier violations of the Spam Act.

More than A$15m in penalties

ACMA has set enforcement of the spam unsubscribe rules as a compliance priority, and has during the last 18 months fined businesses more than A$15m ($10M), including:

• April 2024: Luxottica – A$1.5m;
• January 2024: Outdoor Supacentre – A$300,000;
• November 2023: Kmart – A$1.3m;
• October 2023: Uber – A$412,500;
• October 2023: Ticketek A$500,000;
• August 2023: DoorDash A$2m;
• June 2023: mycar Tyre & Auto – A$1m;
• June 2023: Commonwealth Bank – A$3.55m;
• February 2023: BetDeluxe – A$50,000; and
• December 2022: Binance – A$2m.