Victoria’s economic regulator has suspended the Victorian Energy Upgrades (VEU) accreditation of Royal One Pty Ltd following allegations that the business submitted doctored photographs and falsified customer details to fraudulently generate energy efficiency certificates.
The action represents the fourth major enforcement outcome delivered by the Essential Services Commission’s (ESC) dedicated Fraud Taskforce, established to protect the integrity of the state’s energy-saving scheme.
Under the VEU program, accredited providers assist households and businesses to implement energy-efficient upgrades, earning Victorian Energy Efficiency Certificates that can subsequently be sold for revenue.
However, a taskforce review of evidence submitted by Royal One uncovered clear markers of digital tampering within upgrade compliance photos.
The commission corroborated the irregularities through third-party data matching before confirming the attempted fraud via targeted phone audits of consumers listed on the company’s submissions.
The ESC issued an immediate suspension, preventing Royal One from creating further certificates or deriving income from the scheme. The company’s accreditation subsequently expired, and it did not apply for renewal.
ESC Chairperson and Commissioner Gerard Brody warned that deceptive practices would carry severe commercial consequences for participating operators.
“The Fraud Taskforce continues its important work stamping out fraudulent activity to support VEU program integrity,” Brody said.
“The taskforce uses data, tip-offs and other intelligence to identify areas of unusual activity and in this case, uncovered what we allege to be deliberate and fraudulent conduct from Royal One.
“Immediately suspending Royal One directly affected their ability to generate income from the VEU program. The message is clear – deliberately breaking the rules puts your business at risk.”
The ESC confirmed that while Royal One did not seek accreditation renewal, the commission retains statutory powers to formally cancel accreditations and ban non-compliant businesses to safeguard the program against systemic exploitation.