Ontario to table wireless contracts bill

The Ontario government will introduce legislation to regulate consumer wireless service agreements, the government said Thursday. The bill, which has not yet been introduced, will be called the Wireless Services Agreement Act and would ensure that contracts are written clearly with specific explanations of what is included in each service, a release said. The bill would require written notice from providers to renew or amend a contract and cap the cost of a wireless contract cancellation. The legislation includes measures originally proposed in private members bills introduced by Ontario MPP David Orazietti. Orazietti's private members' legislation, Bill 5, passed second reading in the provincial legislature with support from all parties. Under the new bill, cancellation costs for fixed-term mobile contracts would be capped at $50 or 10 per cent of the remaining payments left on the contract, depending on which is less expensive, a backgrounder from the Ontario Ministry of Consumer Services said. If a phone is provided free of charge or at a discounted price, the cancellation fee would be prorated according to the cost of the phone, the department said. If a mobile company does not provide a customer with a copy of the contract or disclose its key terms, the customer can cancel the agreement within one year and all payments would be refunded, the backgrounder said. The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) said in a release Thursday it supports the proposed legislation. Ontario would be the third province, following Quebec and Manitoba, to introduce legislation for the provincial regulation of wireless contracts. The CRTC is also consulting with companies and the public about the possibility of regulating wireless contracts nationally. Some carriers, including Telus Corp. and Rogers Communications Inc., say they support a national wireless code to avoid a provincial patchwork of regulations.

Ontario to table wireless contracts bill

Brief | April 12, 2012

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Ontario to table wireless contracts bill

Brief | April 12, 2012

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