Tiger Airways mauled by ACMA for Spam Act breaches

Tiger Airways Australia has been slapped with an $110,000 infringement notice by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) for failing to unsubscribe customers from marketing emails.

ACMA took action against Tiger Airways following a December 2011 investigation that found the low-cost airline was in breach of section 38 of the Spam Act.  

In its investigation, ACMA found Tiger Airways had ignored numerous requests from individual customers to be removed from its marketing email database.

Tiger Airways also failed to respond to several warnings from ACMA to unsubscribe its customers.

ACMA accepted an enforceable undertaking from Tiger Airways Holdings Limited and payment of a $110,000 infringement notice by its subsidiary Tiger Airways Australia Pty Limited.

ACMA Deputy Chairman Richard Bean said Tiger Airways had allowed its faulty unsubscribe processes to continue, despite repeated customer complaints.

"Marketing to customers who have unsubscribed is not only against the law, it causes consumer frustration and that ultimately damages a business’s reputation,"  Bean said in a statement.

"This action is another reminder to businesses that that they should pay attention to what their customers are saying.'' 

A Tiger Airways spokesperson said the airline "deeply regrets" the upset and inconvenience caused to its customers and has since reviewed and re-designed its processes to ensure regulatory compliance. 

"[Tiger] is committed to working with an independent consultant to assess and make improvements to all aspects of the electronic direct marketing process where appropriate," the spokesperson said.

The details of the enforceable undertaking can be read here.