Ottawa Will Introduce Legislation to End ‘Unfair Practice’ of Paper Billing by Telecoms

Industry Minister James Moore has released a statement today, proclaiming the Harper Government will end the telecommunications industry practice of charging for paper billing, with new legislation coming to enforce the change.

In a statement, Moore said the following:

More and more Canadians are finding a new charge appearing on their monthly bills, including their wireless bill. This fee is charged to those who receive their bill in the mail. Increasingly, many Canadians are being charged this new fee by companies from whom they have been receiving service for decades. We do not believe that Canadians should pay more to receive a paper copy of their telephone or wireless bill.

The Industry Minister went on to say the Harper Government will “continue to promote policies that support Canadian consumers and put more money back in the pockets of hard-working Canadian families.”

Yesterday the CRTC meeting with nearly a dozen telecoms over the issue of paper billing resulted in exemptions for specific Canadians in need, but on the whole, nothing else was agreed upon for the rest of the population.

Jean-Pierre Blais, Chairman of the CRTC, said the following in a statement yesterday “Many Canadians who will not benefit from the exemptions will be disappointed with the outcome so far,” but also praised “Cogeco Cable, MTS Allstream, SaskTel and Shaw Communications for not charging their customers for paper bills.”

So it looks like that paper bill you’ve been paying for will soon become available free of charge once legislation passes. Consider this a small victory for consumers that absolutely require paper billing and have been forced to pay for it over the years.

 

P.S. - Like our news? Support the site with a coffee/beer. Or shop with our Amazon link. We use affiliate links when possible--thank you for supporting independent media.