Australian court fines Dell unit $6.5 million for misleading customers on discounts

Australia’s Federal Court has ordered Dell Technologies Inc’s local unit to pay A$10 million ($6.46 million) in penalties for misleading representations on its website related to discounts for add-on computer monitors, according to Reuters. In a legal action brought by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Dell Australia was found guilty in June by the Federal Court of misleading customers about the prices or discounts on add-on monitors on its website.

Commissioner Liza Carver stated, “This outcome sends a strong message to businesses that making false representations about prices or inflating discounts is a serious breach of consumer law and will attract substantial penalties.”

Dell Australia reportedly sold more than 5,300 add-on monitors with overstated discounts between August 2019 and December 16, 2021. The company has not yet responded to a request for comment from Reuters.

The exchange rate at the time of reporting is $1 = 1.5480 Australian dollars.

Reporting for this article was done by Navya Mittal in Bengaluru. Editing was conducted by Rashmi Aich and Subhranshu Sahu.