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Account, complaints and plan management · 2026-10-05

What happens to prepayments when a prepaid service is cancelled early

On a rolling month to month prepaid service there is no penalty fee. There is an unused balance, and it stays yours only while you keep paying.

This is the question that separates a prepaid plan from a postpaid contract, and the published answer is unusually clean. There is no early termination charge. There is an unused balance, and it disappears with the service.

The published position

The TPG summary states that TPG Mobile Services are supplied on a rolling month to month basis, that customers are permitted to terminate the acquisition of the Service at any time, but that you will forfeit any prepayments already made. The early termination charge field on all four SIM only plans reads not applicable. So the cost of leaving is not a penalty; it is the money you already paid for a service you stop using.

What makes prepayments exist on a monthly service

Recurring charges are payable monthly in advance, 7 days before the start of the next billing cycle, and you can make additional prepayment if you want to make excluded calls or usage that will incur excess charges. That last clause is where the balance builds up: extra prepayments for international calls or excess data are exactly the money a terminating customer forfeits.

The decision rule

If you are likely to exceed your included data or make international calls, prepay deliberately and withdraw deliberately. If you are not, pay monthly and there is nothing at risk. The plans on this site are compared on the ongoing monthly figure rather than the deposit, because that is the number you will actually live with.

What we could not verify. Where a provider has not published a figure we mark it unknown rather than estimate it. Re-read the provider page linked below on the day you decide.

Sources and verification

Every figure on this page comes from the official page or Critical Information Summary below, checked on the stated date. Prices, allowances and expiry terms can change — recheck before you buy.

  • CRITICAL INFORMATION SUMMARY - TPG Mobile SIM Only Plans — TPG Mobile (Vodafone 4G network, Australia) (checked 2026-10-05) <span class="quiet">Recheck by 2026-11-04</span>
    • An International Call Pack add-on costs $5 per month. (fact, checked 2026-10-05)
    • $10 for extra 2GB, charged per 2GB block or part thereof. (fact, checked 2026-10-05)
    • If there are not enough funds in the prepaid balance to pay for excess data, the service becomes inactive until you top up. (fact, checked 2026-10-05)

Coverage is not promised address by address. Check the provider's own coverage map for your location.

Apply what you learned.

Use your own budget, data need and expected start date to compare the documented plans.

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