Payment Assistance Policy

1. Summary

What financial hardship means

You are in financial hardship if you can't pay what you owe us because of something like illness, losing your job, low or reduced income, domestic or family violence, a death in the family, a change in your personal or family circumstances, a natural disaster, or another unexpected event or reasonable cause, and you think you could pay if we agreed an arrangement with you.

How we can help

Depending on your situation, we can:

• give you more time to pay a bill
• set up a payment plan that fits what you can afford
• discount a bill charge
• apply a credit to your account
• waive some or all of a debt
• move you to a cheaper plan that suits you better
• remove optional extras you don't need, at no cost
• let you pay by bank transfer instead of automatic card payments, at no cost.

How to apply

Call us on 03 9114 2268 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm Melbourne time), email [email protected], use our contact form or the client Portal, write to us, or see us at our office by appointment. You don't need to fill in a form. You don't need to give us evidence for short-term help, or if you're affected by domestic or family violence. We assess a complete application within 5 business days and tell you the outcome within 2 business days after that.

While you're talking to us about help, have applied, or have an arrangement, we won't restrict, suspend or disconnect your service, take debt collection action or sell your debt.

Complaints

If you're unhappy with a decision or with how we've handled your application, ask us to review it, or make a complaint under our Complaints Handling Policy. You can also contact the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO), a free and independent service, on 1800 062 058 or at tio.com.au. Making a complaint won't stop you agreeing to a payment assistance arrangement.

Free financial counselling

Call the National Debt Helpline on 1800 007 007 or visit ndh.org.au.

2. Our commitment

Our goal is to keep customers experiencing financial hardship connected. We will only disconnect a service as a last resort.

You have a right to apply for payment assistance. It's free. We don't charge you to apply, to be assessed, to use an arrangement, or to run it. We'll work with you to find an option that is realistic and fits your circumstances.

In this policy, "In2Digital", "we" and "us" mean New Tech Digital Pty Ltd (ABN 38 643 245 247), trading as In2Digital Communications. This policy follows the Telecommunications (Financial Hardship) Industry Standard 2024.

3. Who this policy is for

This policy applies to our phone services (Cloud Voice) and NBN services. It covers:

• individuals
• not-for-profit organisations
• small businesses that spend no more than $40,000 a year with us and didn't have a genuine and reasonable chance to negotiate the terms of their contract
• former customers who still owe us money for these services.

If you're not sure whether you're covered, ask us anyway. If you're having trouble paying for our other services, such as Microsoft 365, hosting or managed IT, please tell us too. The Standard doesn't cover those services, but we'll consider your request and try to agree on something that works for you.

4. What financial hardship means

You are in financial hardship if you can't pay what you owe us because of circumstances such as:

• illness, of you or someone in your household
• unemployment
• low or not enough income, including reduced access to income
• being a victim-survivor of domestic or family violence
• a death in the family
• a change in your personal or family circumstances
• a natural disaster
• an unexpected event or change that has affected your income or spending
• another reasonable cause,

and you think you will be able to pay if we agree an arrangement for payment assistance with you.

Who is eligible. You are eligible for payment assistance if your situation meets this description and you want to use one of the options in How we can help.

5. How we can help

Depending on your circumstances and what you can afford, we can offer one or more of these options:

1. More time to pay. We can postpone or extend the due date of a bill, or defer payment for a time.
2. A payment plan. You pay what you owe in smaller amounts, at times that suit you, for example when you're paid. We set it up around what you can afford.
3. A discount. We can reduce a charge on your bill.
4. A credit. We can apply a credit to your account.
5. Waiving a debt. We can waive some or all of what you owe.
6. A cheaper plan. We can move you to a plan that suits your needs and budget better, for example a phone plan that allows fewer calls at a time.
7. Removing extras. We can remove optional extras or add-ons you don't need, at no cost.
8. Paying another way. You can pay by bank transfer instead of automatic card payments, at no cost. You can switch at any time in the client Portal or by contacting us.

We tailor the options to your situation and can combine them. If you're affected by domestic or family violence, we'll take that into account, including how your payments are managed in future.

Help for all customers

• You can pay by bank transfer or by card. We don't charge card surcharges.
• If you think an invoice is wrong, tell us. You only need to pay the part that isn't in dispute while we look into it.
• If you can see a payment problem coming, tell us early. The sooner we know, the more options we have.

6. How to apply

You can apply in any of the ways you normally contact us. You don't need to fill in a form. Just tell us you'd like help with paying.

You can use the same contacts to ask questions about payment assistance or to check how your application is going.

• Someone can apply for you. A family member, friend, financial counsellor or other representative can apply and talk to us for you, once you've told us you're happy for them to.
• We'll help you apply. If you have a disability or other accessibility needs, are affected by domestic or family violence, or English isn't your first language, we'll help you make your application.
• Interpreters. Call the Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS National) on 131 450 and ask them to call us on 03 9114 2268.
• Hearing or speech impairment. Contact us through the National Relay Service and ask for 03 9114 2268.
• A copy of this policy. Ask us and we'll email it to you, post you a printed copy, or talk you through it.

Our contact form is run by a provider overseas (see our Privacy Policy). If you'd rather not use it, call or email us instead.

7. Information we may ask for

To find the right option, we'll talk with you about:

• which services and bills you need help with
• what you can afford to pay, and when
• how long you think you'll need help
• in general terms, what has changed. You don't have to share details you're not comfortable sharing.

Evidence

You don't need to provide evidence for short-term help, or if you are affected by domestic or family violence. We never ask for information that is irrelevant to your application or unreasonably hard to get.

We may ask for information to show you're in financial hardship only if you need long-term help and one of these applies:

• the amount to be repaid is more than $1,000
• you've been our customer for less than 2 months
• we reasonably believe there's a possibility of fraud.

Even then, we only ask for information that is strictly necessary to assess your application. We won't require more evidence than we need. If we do ask, we'll tell you in writing:

• who to contact about the request
• how you can get the information to us: by email, online, by post, or in person at our office by appointment
• that you can show us documents to look at instead of giving us copies
• how we'll use and store the information, and what else we may base our assessment on
• that we may not be able to finish the assessment if the information isn't provided, and that false or misleading information may mean we cancel the assessment.

We give you enough time to find the information. We only keep a copy or record of what you give us until we've finished the assessment.

8. Assessment and timeframes

When you apply, we:

1. tell you how long we expect the assessment to take
2. assess your application as soon as we can, and within 5 business days of receiving a complete application
3. tell you the outcome as soon as possible, and within 2 business days after we finish the assessment
4. tell you straight away if it becomes clear that you're not eligible.

"Business days" means Monday to Friday, not counting public holidays in Victoria.

9. Your arrangement

• Your arrangement starts as soon as you tell us you agree to it.
• Within 2 business days after we agree it, we send you written details of the arrangement, including your rights and obligations, how long it lasts, when we might take credit management action, and that you can ask for a review if your situation changes.
• If your situation changes, please tell us within 14 days. We'll review your arrangement within 5 business days of you telling us.
• If a payment is missed, we'll contact you promptly to talk about it and offer to review the arrangement.

10. While you're getting help

While you're discussing options with us, have applied, or have an arrangement in place, we won't:

• restrict, suspend or disconnect your service for non-payment
• take any debt collection or other credit management action, including listing a default with a credit reporting body
• sell your debt.

If an arrangement isn't kept

We can only take credit management action if you haven't kept to your arrangement and we've contacted you to review it, and one of these applies:

• we've talked with you about payment options
• you agree the arrangement can't be completed
• we have a genuine reason to believe you can't or won't pay, and we need to stop the debt growing
• we haven't been able to reach you, despite reasonable steps.

Reasonable steps means at least 3 attempts to contact you, each on a different business day, over no more than 10 calendar days, using at least 2 methods, such as phone and email. At least one attempt is in writing and says we propose to take credit management action, which may include restriction, suspension or disconnection.

Even then, suspension or disconnection is a last resort. At least 10 business days beforehand, we'll give you written notice of what we plan to do and when, our reasons, any charges, any effect on your other services with us, and who to contact, including the TIO and financial counselling services. We won't sell your debt while we're reviewing your arrangement.

11. Reviews and complaints

If you disagree with our decision on your application, or you're unhappy with how we've handled it, you can:

• Ask for a review. Contact us in any of the ways above. We'll look at the decision again, including anything new you tell us, and let you know the outcome.
• Make a complaint. Our Complaints Handling Policy explains how. If the problem is making your financial hardship worse, we treat your complaint as urgent.
• Contact the TIO. The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman is a free and independent service for complaints about phone and internet services. Call 1800 062 058 or visit www.tio.com.au. You can go to the TIO once we have had a reasonable chance to resolve your complaint.

Making a complaint won't stop you agreeing to a payment assistance arrangement.

12. Free support services

• National Debt Helpline (free financial counselling): 1800 007 007 or ndh.org.au
• Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman: 1800 062 058 or www.tio.com.au
• 1800RESPECT (domestic, family and sexual violence support): 1800 737 732. Our domestic and family violence support page explains the safe ways to contact us and other places to get support.

We don't list individual calls on our bills, so calls to these services won't appear on them.

13. About this policy

This policy is in effect from 4 November 2026. Our director is responsible for how it works. We review it at least once every 12 months.

This policy is free. Ask us and we will email it to you, post a printed copy or talk you through it.