| Comms industry put on notice over premium mobile shonks |
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| by Stuart Corner | |
| Friday, 13 March 2009 | |
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He added: "The range of investigations and actions the ACCC has taken and the types of complaints that we receive concern a number of different types of operators, conduct and telecommunications products and services. This suggests consumer protection issues are becoming more prevalent and persistent throughout the industry. "The risk is, if this continues, the industry's reputation with consumers may be irretrievably damaged... The ACCC receives more than 4,000 complaints a year concerning consumer protection issues in the telecommunications sector. It consistently ranks number one in the sectors most complained through our InfoCentre." The main areas of concern for the ACCC are: mobile premium services; phone cards; broadband advertising; and inclusions in bundled packages. Communications Alliance has been developing a code of conduct covering premium mobile services, but the ACCC has some issues with the initial draft and appears to be getting impatient with the speed of progress. Samuel said: "The ACCC made a number of suggestions in response to the draft Industry Code, the most significant being that the Code should require MPS providers to use a 'double opt-in' mechanism, where a consumer requesting a subscription service would be required to take an extra step to confirm their purchase. Improvements were also suggested in relation to information disclosure, advertising practices and complaint handling mechanisms.
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