CRTC Won’t Make Bell, Rogers or Telus Reveal Consumer Complaint Costs

Telecom customer Marc Nanni has lost his bid to make Telus reveal what complying with Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS) rules costs it. CRTC staff denied the request in a November 9 letter, the answer Nanni was waiting on when he argued Canadians already pay for the CCTS through their bills.

Staff also refused to make Rogers, Bell and other providers say how much they pay the complaints agency, and how that cost reaches customers.

Nanni wanted Telus to publish figures it filed in confidence in paragraphs 6, 29 and 33 of its October 7 intervention in the CRTC’s review of how customers are told about the CCTS. That is the same filing where Telus asked for written proof before complaints are accepted. He argued the numbers did not qualify for confidential treatment under the Telecommunications Act.

In its October 22 reply to Nanni, shared with iPhone in Canada, Telus said there is “no direct customer surcharge” for the CCTS on its bills, while describing the fees as overhead “factored into general pricing in a competitive market.” It also said the redacted numbers are not disclosed “in financial reports, investor filings, or regulatory submissions,” according to the staff letter.

As the letter sums up Telus’s position, public disclosure of “these granular, proprietary operational cost figures would cause specific direct commercial harm to Telus that substantially outweighs the public interest in disclosure.”

CRTC staff agreed in the end. “Commission staff is of the view that the disclosure of this information could result in the specific direct harm cited by Telus and that the risk of harm that could result from disclosure of this information outweighs the public interest,” the letter reads.

Nanni’s second request went to members of the Canadian Telecommunications Association (CTA), including Rogers, Bell, Quebecor, Vidéotron, Cogeco, Eastlink, SaskTel, Tbaytel and Xplore. He asked what each paid the CCTS last fiscal year, what the new awareness rules would cost, and whether those costs show up as a line item, a surcharge or are “embedded in the monthly rate.”

Staff said that information isn’t needed. “The Proceeding focuses strictly on changing the service provider notification requirements and not the costs associated with a communications service provider’s (CSP’s) participation in the CCTS,” the letter states, adding that fees paid to the CCTS can be found in its annual reports “on an aggregated basis.”

The CRTC added that if other providers were asked for their implementation costs, “they would also have the option of filing it in confidence,” as Telus did.

“I lost,” Nanni told iPhone in Canada in an email earlier this week. “We can’t know the costs the ISPs fold into our telecom prices for the CCTS which they then claim is ‘free.’”

The letter came from Commission staff, not a ruling by commissioners, and it only deals with Nanni’s procedural requests. Replies in the proceeding are due November 13, and the CRTC has yet to decide how carriers must tell customers about the agency.

It all plays out as the CCTS reports a record 53,195 complaints and Telus separately tells the CRTC the watchdog is unlawful.

Should carriers have to show you how much of your monthly bill goes toward the CCTS?