OTTAWA — The Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS) today instructed Toronto-based service provider Brama Telecom to refund excess amounts charged to one of its customers. In announcing its decision, CCTS noted Brama is already in breach of its obligations both to customers and CCTS with regard to previous overbilling incidents affecting other customers.
In the latest incident, for the months of February and March 2015, Brama billed a customer eight times for its monthly service fees, instead of twice. Brama obtained the customer’s money via pre-authorized debit and did not refund the overcharged amounts to the customer, who complained to CCTS. The customer also complained that Brama had increased its monthly service fee without notifying the customer. After investigating the incident, CCTS said it is instructing Brama to refund the excess amounts billed, including the monthly fee increase because CCTS found no evidence to suggest Brama had provided the required notice to the customer. In total, CCTS is recommending Brama refund to the customer the fee overcharges of $182.32 plus pay an additional $50 in compensation for the customer’s inconvenience and time spent pursuing the refund.
In a press release announcing its decision, CCTS said it had also recently issued two recommendations that Brama is required to implement, but has failed to do so and therefore is in breach of its obligations to those customers and CCTS.
In one case, Brama took 11 payments from a customer over a two-month period, using pre-authorized payments. In the other case, Brama took the correct number of payments but in total billed more than the customer had agreed to pay. In each case, CCTS issued a recommendation that Brama compensate the customer for the overcharged amounts. Brama has failed to respond and has not refunded the amounts to the customers, CCTS said.
As a CCTS participating service provider, Brama is currently in default of various obligations, CCTS said. As it stands now, CCTS said Brama is in default of its obligations to CCTS by failing to provide all of the information requested by CCTS in connection with these complaints, by failing to cooperate in good faith in CCTS’s investigation thereof, and by failing to make timely payment of amounts billed to it by CCTS.
To view the decision CCTS issued today regarding Brama Telecom, click here.
