Telstra was stung $102,000 for misleading consumers. Source: News Corp Australia

The offending ad was a full page piece that adverstised Telstra’s iPhone 6 and phone plane bundle. The ACCC alleged the ad prominently displayed the plan’s price of $70 per month, but failed to prominently mention the $11 per month handset repayment charge for the iPhone 6. That detail is only shown in the fine print, where it mentions the additional payment and total monthly cost of $81.

The ACCC said it issued the infringement notice as it believed this was a “false or misleading representation” about the actual price of the phone and service.

The offending ad. Source: Supplied

“Consumers should be able to understand the true cost of an advertised product so they can make informed purchasing decisions,” ACCC Chairman Rod Sims said.

A spokesman for Telstra told news.com.au the company was “surprised to receive the infringement notice, as our ads prominently stated the mobile cost, the handset cost and the total minimum cost as legally required.”

“Even though we are strongly of the view our ads complied with the law, we have paid the notice,” he said.

This isn’t the first time that Telstra and other telcos like Optus have come under fire due to their iPhone advertising.

Optus had ads around major cities despite having no stock of the most popular models. Source: Supplied

In October, despite having next to no stock, Australian telcos weren’t backing down with their advertising of Apple’s latest devices around capital cities.

Optus was the biggest offender, with its ads covering CBD bus stops and signs in cities across the country. The carrier has told news.com.au that it was still heavily advertising as it had 16GB models in stock, however it was out of the 64GB version and only had limited availability of the 128GB.

Despite all the drama, customers are finally able to buy Apple’s latest device without the problems experienced at release.