OTTAWA and MONTREAL – Bell Canada has paid a $10 million penalty to the Competition Bureau to resolve concerns over the company’s advertising.
The Competition Bureau determined that Bell misrepresenting the prices of its services, including home phone, Internet, satellite TV and wireless, by charging higher prices than advertised. It found that the advertised prices were unavailable as additional mandatory fees, such as those related to TouchTone, modem rental and digital television services, were hidden from consumers in fine-print disclaimers.
As an example, Bell’s website had advertised a bundle for home phone, Internet and television services starting as low as $69.90 per month, however, the Bureau found that it was impossible for customers to buy the bundle for the advertised price. In fact, the lowest possible price, including the mandatory fees, was $80.27, or approximately 15% higher than advertised.
In a short statement issued late Tuesday afternoon, Bell acknowledged that it had "entered into a consent agreement” with the Competition Bureau but said that it “fundamentally disagrees with the Bureau’s position.”
“Bell’s advertising has always complied with all applicable laws and been comparable with common advertising practice past and present in the communications marketplace and other industries in Canada”, the statement reads. “However, Bell has decided to immediately resolve the issue and move forward by paying an administrative amount of $10 million.”
Under the terms of the consent agreement, Bell also agreed to modify all of its non-compliant advertisements within 60 days. The Bureau determined that the ads in question began appearing in December, 2007.
"I am pleased that Bell cooperated with the Bureau’s investigation and is taking steps to correct the misleading advertisements," said Melanie Aitken, commissioner of competition, in a press release. "When a price is offered to consumers, it must be accurate. Including a fine-print disclaimer is no licence to advertise prices that are not available."
