OTTAWA – Canada’s wireless customers need better safeguards to protect against expensive premium text messaging services, according to a new report released Wednesday from the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC).
The report, Paying a Premium: Consumers and Mobile Premium Services, includes the results of focus groups with consumers who had experiences with mobile premium services, also known as premium text messaging services, plus a review of industry self-regulation and practices.
PIAC counsel and report co-author Janet Lo said that consumers continue to report numerous problems with mobile premium services, ranging from unauthorized subscriptions to unsuccessful unsubscription, and difficulty disputing charges for these third party services with their wireless service provider and the mobile premium service company.
“The self-regulatory model for mobile premium services is not working for consumers”, Lo said in the report’s news release. “Consumers need and expect better protection against unauthorized billing for mobile premium services, especially from their wireless service provider who is a central party profiting from this industry.”
Noting that countries such as Australia, the U.K. and the United States have stronger regulation around mobile premium services, such as mandating consumer access to a free premium text blocking service to prevent unwanted charges, the report also offers some recommendations. PIAC called on wireless service providers to assume greater responsibility for protecting their consumers as both a profiting party and as the first point of contact with the consumer, plus suggested that the CRTC regulate mobile premium services and implement analogous consumer safeguards such as those that exist for third party pay call (900/976 services) for landline phones.
