Phone company overcharged clients
David George-Cosh
Province
Burnaby-based Telus overcharged some 500,000 customers. CNS file photo
TORONTO — Telus residential customers who were charged a monthly long-distance access fee even when they didn’t use the service will get be getting a rebate.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission ordered Telus yesterday to offer a $2.95 rebate to customers who paid the fee but did not make long-distance calls. Telus isn’t required to rebate clients who made long-distance calls.
“When applied to customers who did not make any long-distance calls, the monthly fee was equivalent to an unauthorized increase to the residential local-service rate,” said CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein.
“We will use our powers whenever necessary to uphold the interests of consumers of telecommunications services, particularly in instances when companies impose unauthorized charges,” he added.
The ruling is vindication for Globalive Communications Corp., parent of telecom reseller Yak Communications (Canada) Corp., as well as a number of customer-advocacy groups, who initially filed a complaint with the federal regulator last December calling the fee an “unauthorized residential local-rate increase.”
In November 2007, Telus added the $2.95 charge to more than 500,000 customers in Alberta and B.C., regardless if they had signed up for a long-distance plan with the company. Telus customers could avoid paying the network-access fee if they subscribed to its free Call Guardian service, which permits only local or toll-free calls from being placed.
However, Telus charged its customers $10 if they wished to cancel the service.
Public Interest Advocacy Centre counsel John Lawford welcomed the CRTC’s ruling in a statement.
“Telus overcharged customers,” said Lawford, who brought a complaint about the charge to the CRTC on behalf of consumer groups Consumers’ Association of Canada and the National Anti-Poverty Organization.
“The CRTC said no to Telus making up the rules on local telephone rates as they go along.”
Lawford called it “unfortunate” that the CRTC didn’t remove the monthly network-access fee entirely since customers are levied the charge even if they make one long-distance call.
“Now you’ll see this fee copied by Bell Canada, Bell Aliant and other large telephone companies,” he said.
© The Vancouver Province 2008
