Ontario to table wireless consumer protection bill

The Ontario government said it will introduce consumer protection legislation creating new rights for mobile wireless consumers in the province. In a release Thursday, the provincial Department of Consumer Services said the bill would make it easier for consumers to understand “the costs and terms” of their wireless service contracts. Among other measures, the bill would require that contracts between wireless carriers and their subscribers be written in “plain language,” and that they “clearly outline” the services they include and those that would trigger additional fees, the release said. The bill would also require providers to gain consent from a subscriber before amending or renewing their contract, and would cap the cancellation fees providers charge to subscribers that exit their contracts early. “Ontario consumers want understand cell phone and wireless contracts with no hidden costs,” Tracy MacCharles, minister of consumer services, said in a statement. “Our proposed legislation, if passed, would be backed by meaningful enforcement so that consumers are better protected.” The CRTC held a hearing in February to establish a national “code of conduct” to govern wireless carriers’ relationships with their customers. Wireless carriers asked the commission to impose a national code to avoid what they called a “patchwork” of provincial laws governing the industry. BCE Inc. filed a legal opinion saying the wireless laws are ouside provincial jurisdiction. In a draft code released in January, the CRTC proposed that the national code should not weaken provincial consumer protection laws now in Quebec, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador. The Ontario government introduced a similar bill last year. Sandra Bento, a spokeswoman for MacCharles, said the new bill will be tabled Monday.

Ontario to table wireless consumer protection bill

Brief | April 25, 2013

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