A Rogers Insider Is Taking On Telecom Billing. He Says It’s Broken By Design.

A retired Rogers insider is asking the CRTC to ban advance billing, the practice that has nearly every Canadian paying for phone, internet and TV service 30 days before using it, according to the Toronto Star.

Stephen Lawton, 74, spent 18 years as a senior adviser in the office of the president at Rogers, sitting at the top of the complaint chain. He wants carriers forced to bill in arrears, the way electricity and water utilities do (meaning you pay for service after you have received it).

“The system is broken by design,” Lawton told the Star, adding that the CRTC “has never questioned the design.”

His frustration peaked in November 2025, when his partner ported a Fido number to Koodo four days into a billing cycle. Lawton figured they owed roughly $4.10. Fido billed the full $42.38, then tacked on a $1.22 late fee when he refused to pay what he calls a “phantom” balance.

The CRTC told the Star it does not “prescribe whether telecommunications service providers bill customers in advance or in arrears,” and has never commissioned research on it. The regulator requires pro-rated refunds when contracts end, but sets no deadline for how quickly carriers must return the money.

Telus said it automatically credits customers for prepaid days they didn’t use, applied to the final bill.

Billing disputes made up 46 per cent of all complaints in the telecom ombud’s 2024-25 report, the largest single category. Nowadays, telecoms force you to submit to pre-authorized autopay (either through your bank account or credit card) to get the maximum discounts.

Rogers and Bell did not respond to the Star. But the Canadian Telecommunications Association called advance billing “a long-standing industry practice in Canada and internationally.”

Canadians can submit comments to the CRTC until August 11, with a public hearing beginning in Gatineau on November 30.