ACCAN & industry at odds over future of telecoms consumer protection rules

Stuart Corner
Wednesday, 10 November 2010 11:12

IT Policy - Regulation

The Australian Communications Consumers Action Network (ACCAN) has called for the current self-regulatory telecoms consumer protection regime to be replace with a mandatory system that would require telcos to adhere to 'high level principles'; industry body, Comms Alliance has been quick to oppose the idea.

ACCAN CEO, Teresa Corbin, launching a new ACCAN report Consumers First: Smart Regulation for Digital Australia, prepared by UTS's Communications Law Centre, said: "The current self-regulatory system, with its excessive rules, exemptions and exclusions, has failed. Without a new approach to protection, consumers are going to be left with providers that still don't care and won't change."

She said that smart regulation was "about making the market work for consumers..[and] would require the industry to adhere to high-level principles, such as treating customers fairly, respecting their privacy, providing accurate, clear information on product and services from the point of advertising to after sales service; and when problems occur, resolving disputes quickly and fairly."

The report's co-author, Professor Michael Fraser, head of the Communications Law Centre, said that smart regulation would work only if regulators had the right enforcement tools, processes and culture to hold companies to account.

"Smart regulation is a holistic approach that would see the regulator maintain a continuous conversation with all stakeholders to ensure businesses are focusing on good consumer outcomes and clearly understand their responsibilities'¦.The ACMA needs a dedicated consumer protection arm that has access to business complaints data and auditing, and has the right enforcement tools and culture."

Change is already afoot: Communications Alliance is in the throes of a review of the Telecommunications Consumer Protection Code and ACMA in the midst of a major public enquiry 'Reconnecting the Customer' "to examine customer service practices and complaints-handling practices within the telecommunications industry."

ACCAN says smart regulation is already playing a role in the Telecommunications Protection Code review "by exploring a principles-based, outcomes-focused approach." Comms Alliance, however would appear not to agree. Within minutes of ACCAN airing its views, Comms Alliance responded with CEO John Stanton saying "To ensure we deliver improved protections for consumers, the Code must provide clear guidance to service providers, and its provisions must be able to be interpreted by regulators.

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