CCTS issues Annotated Guide to CRTC Wireless Code

Ottawa, March 2, 2017 – The Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS) today issued its highly anticipated annotation of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission’s (CRTC) Wireless Code of Conduct. At the request of the CRTC, CCTS has been administering the Wireless Code since it came into effect in December 2013. This means that CCTS applies the Code to resolve complaints it receives from wireless customers, and also tracks and reports on violations of the Code.

“The Code is intended to govern many aspects of the delivery of wireless services to consumers,” said CCTS Commissioner Howard Maker. “But when we investigate customer complaints, it is not always clear how the Code is intended to apply to the specific fact situations that we see.”

In the event of uncertainty, or when the Code is ambiguous or unclear, CCTS must determine how to apply the relevant provision(s) of the Code to the complaint. CCTS has compiled the various determinations and interpretations that it has made in the thousands of complaints it has investigated since December 2013, and put them together in its Annotated Guide to the Code. The annotation follows the format of the Wireless Code, with a section-by-section discussion, and complaint summaries intended to illustrate the discussion.

“When we apply the Code to resolve a customer complaint, only the customer and the service provider learn how we have addressed the Code issue. We have created this annotation in order to provide enhanced transparency, and to ensure that all wireless providers and their customers can become aware of our approach,” said Maker. “We hope that by making it possible for the parties to determine in advance how we would resolve the issue in their dispute, it will be possible for such issues to be resolved more quickly, without requiring CCTS’ intervention.”

CCTS also expects that this annotation will assist the CRTC with its review of the contents of the Wireless Code, which it will undertake some time during its 2016-17 fiscal year. CCTS will update the annotation from time to time to ensure that it is kept up to date. The annotation can be viewed here.

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About the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS) Since July 2007, CCTS has provided consumers with an independent and impartial mechanism for the resolution of complaints about deregulated local and long distance telephone services, as well as wireless service and internet access. This includes billing errors, compliance with contract terms and commitments, service delivery, credit management and collections issues. Visit our website at www.ccts-cprst.ca.   To schedule an interview with the Commissioner, or for more information, please contact us at: Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services Email: communication@ccts-cprst.ca Toll free: 1-855-512-9783 Twitter: @ccts_cprst Facebook: Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services