GATINEAU – The CRTC will release its Report on Misleading or Aggressive Telecommunications Retail Sales Practices at 11 a.m. Wednesday, February 20th.
The Commission hosted a contentious hearing back in October, a review it initially resisted undertaking, but in the end was insisted upon by the federal government thanks to enormous mainstream media and social media pressure.
The feds demanded a report on the matter by the end of February.
The five-day long October hearing featured angry consumers and consumer groups, defensive telcos, cellcos and cablecos and a Twitter hashtag, #CRTCforum, which allowed anyone to be part of the report (we’re really curious how the tweeters will be represented in the report).
What’s probably to be proposed in this report, which is not likely to be very kind to the large Canadian telecom players, is a new code of conduct for them to abide by when it comes to their sales tactics. This is even though there are already ample laws and codes, be it from the CRTC (TV Service Provider Code, Wireless Code, Telecom Act) or federal (Competition Bureau) or provincial governments (various consumer protection laws – such as Saskatchewan’s Direct Sellers’ Act) which protect consumers well from unscrupulous sales practices.
Bell Canada even proposed a five-point code when it appeared during the hearing: 1. Show consumers offers in clear language they can understand; 2. Offer a 30-day “buyer's remorse” option so customers can change their minds; 3. Orders placed must be confirmed with the customer within 24 hours of the order placement; 4. A “do-not-knock” list must be kept by each company; 5. Each carrier must have a whistleblower policy to protect employees who report bad behaviour.
It's very unlikely a new code will come straight out of this report. If the Commission does want one, the normal course would be to open a new proceeding calling for comments on such a code’s construction – of which each firm said they wanted to be a part, if the Regulator goes down that road.
Watch for Cartt.ca’s coverage of this report Wednesday morning. In the meantime, please re-read out coverage of the hearing, if you wish.
ANALYSIS: Why our shaky memory is what's really at the heart of the telecom sales practices hearing
Telecom Sales Practices: Angry consumers launch the hearing
Telecom Sales Practices: Hard numbers versus brutal anecdotes
Telecom Sales Practices: Why you need to know what "suitability" and "aggressive" mean
Telecom Sales Practices Day 4: Carriers fight "flawed" CRTC survey
Telecom Sales Practices: Carriers cautiously concede coming code, quibble concerning conditions
