According to a number of published reports, Australian customers who apparently felt that Apple had misled them about the 4G capabilities of the new iPad in the country will be offered refunds by the company.

The `refunds' move by Apple comes in the wake of a legal complaint by Australia's consumer watchdog - the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) - which said that the company's advertisements about the
4G/LTE capability of the new iPad were misleading, as the tablet is not capable of running the country's 4G network.

In its Tuesday complaint lodged at the Federal Court in Melbourne, the ACCC said that Australian customers were misled by Apple's recent advertising of the new iPad which it claimed had `WiFi + 4G' capabilities.

The promotion by the company obviously led the consumers to believe that the tablet can - with a SIM card - capable of connecting to a 4G mobile data network in Australia, which actually is "not the case."

In reaction to the ACCC's complaint, Apple's senior counsel Paul Anastassiou told the court that the company had never claimed that the tablet will work fully in Australia on the Telstra-operated 4G network.

Nonetheless, Anastassiou also added that Apple was willing to recompense the new iPad buyers who felt misled by the tablet's capability to connect to Australia's 4G/LTE network. Moreover, along with offering refunds, Apple will also reportedly publish a clarification about the new iPad's incompatibility issues on its Web site as well as at its stores.