Legislation tries to make cell contracts clearer

The provincial government announced plans today to adopt new protections for cell phone users.

The Wireless Services Agreement Act will contain measures that the government hopes will make wireless service more fair for consumers.

It will allow customers in Ontario to cancel their agreements at any time, with limits on cancellation charges. It will also require cell phone companies to get customers to consent to any renewals or amendments to a contract.

Some of these measures were originally introduced at Queen’s Park by Sault Ste Marie MPP David Orazietti over the past two years.

“Now, it’s easy to suggest that, well, it’s the consumer’s responsibility. The consumer should know. Certainly, the consumer does have some obligation to understand what is in their contract, but the fact that this is such a prevalent problem in this sector and in the industry tells us that more needs to be done to make sure that consumers are aware of what aspects are in their contracts.”

A 2010 report by the New American Foundation found Canadians pay the highest minimum monthly charge for cell phone services out of eleven surveyed countries.

Complaints about wireless carriers accounted for 62 percent of all the complaints received by the federal commissioner overseeing telecommunications in 2010-2011.

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