The Consumers Council of Canada and three other major consumer organizations, which together form the Canadian Consumer Initiative (CCI), have called for action from the federal government and the CRTC in light of soaring number of wireless complaints to the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS).
CCTS has announced that telecommunications service and billing complaints had more than doubled from the previous year (a 114% increase), mostly related to wireless problems. Wireless complaints now constitute 62% of the CCTS workload, doubling from 31% in 2007-8.
CCI is a coalition of four major Canadian consumer organizations.
The members of CCI believe this more than doubling of consumer complaints indicates an urgent need for more action on the part of government and regulators to protect Canadian consumers, and, on the part of the CCTS, to conduct a systemic review of the source of consumer problems, so that the industry can address them.
CCI called on the federal government and the CRTC to:
- impose stricter rules on service providers regarding customer service and disclosure of information;
- to rescind the 2006 Directive issued by Cabinet to the CRTC to rely on market forces rather than regulation; and
- to create an advisory committee to examine the policy framework of telecommunications, along with consumers’ associations.
Background information on this subject, prepared by CCI, can be downloaded by clicking here.