OTTAWA – The CRTC should prohibit telecommunications companies from charging for paper bills and order refunds for fees already charged to regulated phone customers, says the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC).
In an application filed with the Commission Wednesday, PIAC, in conjunction with the Consumers’ Association of Canada (CAC), argued that fees charged to receive bills in paper format are an “unauthorized rate increase” for regulated landline customers, and "unjustly discriminatory" towards all telecommunications customers.
“By charging a paper bill fee, telecommunications service providers assume that all Canadians are comfortable with, or have access to, electronic billing,” said John Lawford, executive director of PIAC and counsel for PIAC and CAC, in a statement. “Many customers may only accept paper bill fees because they are not comfortable working on computers or because they can’t afford to buy a laptop or purchase home internet access. We are concerned that customers who are ultimately charged with these fees are the ones who can least afford them.”
The filing included a recent Environics Research Group survey which found that:
– 83% of Canadians somewhat agreed or strongly agreed that people should have the right to get a paper bill in the mail without having to pay an extra fee, and that this was part of the company’s cost of doing business;
– 33% of Canadians were “not very comfortable” or “not at all comfortable” with receiving bills or invoices online; and
– where faced with a paper bill fee, 54% of Canadians have paid it to receive a paper statement.
