Law professor opposes Telus bid to limit CCTS complaints

A University of Ottawa law professor is urging the CRTC to reject a Telus request that would let Canada’s telecom complaints watchdog turn away cases unless customers can show written proof they reached a second tier of support at their provider.

Marina Pavlović, a consumer protection expert, told the Toronto Star that customers should not have to understand their provider’s organizational chart, according to a report by iPhone in Canada. She argued the change would leave customers at the mercy of their carrier.

Under current rules, customers must give their provider a fair chance to fix a problem before going to the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services, known as the CCTS. No documentation is required. Canada News Media first reported Telus’s request on Oct. 17.

Telus says providers should get “the first, reasonable opportunity” to resolve issues. Its submission to the CRTC is dated Oct. 7, and the company has also challenged the CCTS’s legal authority.

The CCTS logged a record 53,195 complaints in its latest reporting year, a 79 per cent increase. Complaints about Telus rose 77.9 per cent in the previous annual report.

Telus has pointed to a poll it paid for in September, which found that 81 per cent of 1,100 Canadians think carriers deserve a chance to fix problems first. The same poll found 57 per cent of respondents did not know the CCTS existed, and 24 per cent recognized only its name.

Pavlović said the poll never asked about rejecting complaints that lack documentation. She said stricter filing rules could reduce the complaint count without resolving the underlying problems. With two law students, she has asked the CRTC to require carriers to mention the CCTS as soon as a customer complains.

Public comments on the proposal close Nov. 13. The CRTC has scheduled a hearing on consumer protection codes for Nov. 30 in Gatineau, Que.

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Source: iPhone in Canada.