CRTC launches paper billing consultation after denying request

The CRTC has launched a consultation to consider whether wireless service providers should be required to provide paper bills to customers, after it rejected an application from the Public Interest Advocacy Centre to require Telus Corp.’s flanker brand Koodo to do so. PIAC and the National Pensioners Federation had asked for the regulator to require Koodo to send out paper bills on request after it stopped sending them from April 2018 to customers who had activated self-serve accounts and who were not identified as having accessibility needs. It claimed the only way for those Koodo customers to obtain a paper bill was by requesting a bill copy, at a cost of $5. In correspondence with the CRTC, PIAC stated wireless service providers should be required to provide paper bills to “respond to the needs of vulnerable customers”, including seniors and people with disabilities or low income, stating they were less likely to have a wireline connection or a wireless plan that included data. It argued other wireless providers would “likely follow Koodo’s lead and offer e-billing only” if the CRTC ruled that providing paper bills upon request was not mandatory. Telecoms responded to the request that they had no obligation to provide paper bills. The regulator requires bills be provided in “alternative accessible formats” and a 2014 decision prevents providers from charging fees to send a paper bill, but does not mandate the format in which bills must be provided. In its ruling, the CRTC said PIAC and the NPF did not demonstrate a need for the CRTC to make providing paper billing a general condition of service and said imposing the requirement would be contrary to a 2006 Harper-era policy direction. But the CRTC noted it had received complaints from customers of telecommunications service providers regarding paper bills and said issues raised with it about difficulties of paying bills online “may be a sign that there are wider concerns with paper billing in general”, leading to it starting the consultation process. The consultation will address whether CRTC intervention into paper billing is warranted, what measures it should impose and to whom any new obligations should apply. Any changes around billing requirements would apply to both telecommunications providers and broadcasters, the regulator said in its notice of consultation. The CRTC has required Canada’s major wireless providers to provide details about their paper billing practices and policies by April 2, with interventions due by May 4.

CRTC launches paper billing consultation after denying request

Brief | March 3, 2020

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CRTC launches paper billing consultation after denying request

Brief | March 3, 2020

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