CRTC orders Telus to rebate customers

This goes under “Always check you monthly bill”:

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has determined that Telus was improperly charging certain customers a network-access fee.

CRTC has ordered TELUS to rebate residential customers who paid this monthly fee, but did not make any telephone calls on the company’s long-distance network during the month. However, TELUS is not required to rebate customers who made long-distance telephone calls during the same month.

“When applied to customers who did not make any long-distance calls, the monthly fee was equivalent to an unauthorized increase to the residential local service rate,” said Konrad von Finckenstein, Q.C., Chairman of the CRTC. “We will use our powers whenever necessary to uphold the interests of consumers of telecommunications services, particularly in instances when companies impose unauthorized charges.”

Yak Communications was one organization that brought the case into action and was thrilled about the decision. “This is a huge win for all Canadian consumers,” said Anthony Lacavera, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of both Yak and Globalive. “We feel very strongly as a company that someone has to take a stand on behalf of Canadians who are charged these unfair fees. The CRTC made the right decision today.”

In November 2007, Telus began charging close to half a million customers in Alberta and British Columbia a monthly network-access fee of $2.95. These customers had not signed up for a long-distance plan, either with Telus or another company, and the charge applied even if they did not make long-distance calls or if they made long-distance calls using only dial-around long-distance services.