Energy retailer Simply Energy has been hit with $60,000 in penalties for switching residents at a aged care home and retirement village to new contracts without their consent.

The Australian Energy Regulator alleged on three separate occasions customers who received Simply Energy telemarketing calls either didn’t understand the nature and the purpose of the call, or didn’t have the capacity to provide the proper consent.

It’s the second time the company been fined for failing to gain informed consent in recent years – in 2015, they paid out $80,000 in penalties over 2014 breaches.

Simply Energy is owned by the French electric utility company Engie. It has been in Australia since 2005.

Image credit: National Council on Ageing.