A key feature of the judgement in the ANZ fees class action case is that late payment fees charged more than six years ago may be claimed and are not barred by the statute of limitations. Financial Redress, owned by the litigation funder IMF Bentham, has thus resumed taking expressions of interest for the ANZ case and for actions against half a dozen other banks. The firm had suspended this process before Christmas.Maurice Blackburn's head of class actions, Andrew Watson, hailed the decision on late payment fees as a milestone for Australian bank customers, saying that the compensation to ANZ customers was likely to run into the "tens of millions".The final compensation bill for ANZ and the other major banks facing claims was thrown up in the air yesterday with the decision to remove the six-year time limit on contested late payment fees covered by the judgement.The removal of the limit is also bad news for six other banks - including Westpac, NAB and Commonwealth Bank - that are facing similar class actions mounted by Maurice Blackburn."That fact alone will significantly expand the liability of the banks," Watson said.The removal of the six-year limit means that ANZ's exposure to the Maurice Blackburn claim will be widened to include customers who paid late fees before 2006. Around 43,500 customers are currently signed up to the class action.  The decision has raised the prospect of compensation for thousands of other customers who paid late fees as far back as the 1980s.Watson could not say how much compensation was likely to flow to ANZ customers affected by late payment fees.The court has given the parties until February 12 to agree on a compensation framework. If a deal cannot be negotiated, the court will make a determination on compensation.Justice Gordon's judgement establishes new legal principles for the setting of late payment fees by service providers in Australia. The bottom line rule for all companies is that they should now limit the formulation of late payment fees to cost recovery.Electricity and gas utilities may be vulnerable to similar claims from consumers, and so might universities, which impose hefty charges on students for late payment of enrolment fees.Watson said the plaintiffs would take "some time" to consider appealing the court's findings that other types of fees charged by ANZ, such as honour and dishonour fees, were fair and reasonable.