Canadian consumers are being invited to tell a federal regulator about their personal experience with misleading or abusive sales practices at the country’s telecommunications companies.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission will accept written comments by Aug. 30. That will be followed by a public hearing on the matter in Gatineau, Que., beginning Oct. 22.
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The CRTC said its inquiry — ordered by the federal government last month — will look closely at incomplete, unclear or misleading information provided to consumers as well as the sale of unsuitable products to ill-informed people.
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“To provide a meaningful report to the government, it is important that we hear from Canadians across the country,” CRTC chair Ian Scott said in a statement Monday
The regulator is also inviting current and former telecom employees, as well as third-party sellers, to share their personal experiences about the sales process.
The CRTC says anyone can ask for confidential treatment for information that could result in a significant financial loss to them, such as a loss of employment, but they must also provide a second version for the public record.
Among other things, the CRTC is asking whether service providers are using language that is easy to understand, if they have misleading or aggressive sales practices, and if existing consumer protections are sufficient.
It’s also asking older people or people with a language barrier if the service provider made an effort to ensure they were able to make an informed decision.
The CRTC is focusing its questions to current or former customers of Bell Canada, Cogeco, Eastlink, Northwestel, Rogers Communications, SaskTel, Shaw Communications, TbayTel, TekSavvy, Telus Communications, Videotron and Xplornet.
The minister responsible for telecommunications, Navdeep Bains, announced the inquiry last month.
Bains said he had received many complaints directly and noted that a series of news stories had raised questions about the practices used by major telecommunications providers.
Scott had previously declined calls for a public inquiry lodged earlier this year by consumer advocacy groups.
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