Moore promises to outlaw ‘pay-to-pay’ billing

Hours after a meeting between telecommunications companies and CRTC officials regarding paper-billing charges that failed to end in a result satisfactory to policy-makers, Industry Minister James Moore said via social media he'll solve the issue with legislation. “Our Government will introduce legislation to end pay-to-pay billing practices for telecom industry #ConsumersFirst,” Moore said on Twitter late Thursday evening. That followed an announcement from the CRTC Thursday that after closed-door meetings with several telecoms that companies agreed to exempt certain customers from the practice of paper-billing charges but that the commission might still reopen a public review of the issue after unsatisfactory concessions from industry. Two consumers groups, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) and the Consumers’ Association of Canada (CAC), had asked the CRTC in October to end the practice of charging for paper copies of consumers’ monthly bills. BCE Inc., Rogers Communications Inc. and Telus Corp. all charge for paper bills from their telecom services, as do smaller carriers such as Wind Mobile and Quebecor Inc.-owned Videotron, according to PIAC. Yet now, under an agreement reached at a meeting at the CRTC’s national headquarters in Gatineau, Que., Thursday, those companies that charge paper bill fees will exempt those without home broadband connections, seniors, those with disabilities and Canadian Forces veterans, and these exemptions were to take effect in the new year. The CRTC said in a news release that the agreement addressed some of the issues yet “does not go far enough,” adding that the commission’s representatives at the meeting recommended the reopening of a stalled public review of paper-bill fees. According to the regulator, the meeting was attended by representatives from Bell, Rogers, Telus, Quebecor, Wind Mobile, Cogeco Cable Inc., Manitoba Telecom Services Inc., Shaw Communications Inc. and Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corp. In a statement released after the meeting, CRTC Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais said many Canadians “will be disappointed with the outcome.” In his statement, Blais praised Cogeco, MTS, SaskTel and Shaw for not charging for paper bills. PIAC estimated in a release Wednesday that Canadians are paying between $495 million and $734 million a year to receive paper bills. In their responses to the PIAC filing, telecom providers said the charges for paper bills are designed to provide an incentive for consumers to switch to environmentally friendly electronic-billing methods, and that they reflect the companies’ costs of providing paper bills. Representatives from Bell, Rogers and Telus were not immediately available for comment Thursday. The CRTC noted in its release the government’s promise in last year’s throne speech to end so-called pay-to-pay policies among consumer businesses. — With reporting by Peter Henderson at phenderson@thewirereport.ca and editing by Derek Abma at dabma@thewirereport.ca

Moore promises to outlaw ‘pay-to-pay’ billing

News | August 28, 2014

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Moore promises to outlaw ‘pay-to-pay’ billing

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