Mobile marketer Impelus’s war of words with Telstra looks set to escalate into a court battle.

Impelus last week told investors Telstra’s decision to stop offering a service known as  direct carrier billing “would have a material impact on Impelus’s FY2018 revenue and earnings”.

Direct carrier billing (DCB) is an online payment service that allows users to make purchases by charging payments to their phone bill.

Impelus said today (ASX:IMS) it had failed to resolve the issue and would now “initiate proceedings in the Supreme court to seek injunctive or expedited final relief to prevent Telstra from ceasing to provide it with the services from March 2.

Impelus (IMS) share price movements over the past month.
Impelus (IMS) share price movements over the past month.

“The company is extremely disappointed with Telstra’s decision after having shared such a long and successful relationship in DCB for more than 4 years,” it said.

Impelus estimates the withdrawal of Telstra services will have a $550,000 to $680,000 effect on its earnings for the year.

Shares in the company were trading at 3.4c – down from 4.8c at the end of January.

“Impelus’s strong position is that Telstra has a continuing obligation to provide it with the Services after March 2, 2018,” chief Neil Wiles said.

Telstra last year announced it was ruling out the service, after customers complained of getting hit with unexpected third party charges on their bills.

According to a survey commissioned by the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network, conducted in April, 12 per cent of Aussie mobile users had been hit with unexpected third party charges in a six-month period.

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