|
Key actions |
|
|---|---|
|
|
We released our third report on telco customer financial hardship. |
|
|
We published the September 2021 quarterly report on telco complaints-handling performance. |
|
|
We published the results of an audit into the contactability of telcos. |
|
|
We issued a remedial direction to Optus Internet and accepted an enforceable undertaking from TPG Internet. |
|
|
We started 15 telco investigations and completed 6. |
|
|
We remade rules that expand the range of civil penalty provisions where we can issue infringement notices for breaches. |
|
|
We held meetings of the Consumer Consultative Forum and the Prepaid Determination Working Group. |
Telco compliance activities: 2021–22 compliance priorities
Protecting vulnerable telco customers
On 23 February 2022, we released our third state of play report on how telcos deal with customer financial hardship. The report showed:
- 28,000 residential and over 2,000 small business customers entered a financial hardship arrangement with their telco in the 2020–21 financial year.
- The number of residential financial hardship customers declined from 7.64 per 10,000 customers in June 2020 to 3.57 per 10,000 customers in June 2021.
- More customers started with lower levels of debt compared to 2019–20:
- For small business financial hardship customers, 48% started with less than $500 of debt, compared with 22% the year before.
- For residential financial hardship customers, 62% started with less than $500 of debt, compared with 48% the year before.
- The overall proportion of residential customers in a financial hardship arrangement who successfully exited that arrangement rose to 63% in 2020–21, up from 47% the previous year.
Phone scams
Telcos blocked over 357 million scam calls from December 2020 to November 2021 under the Reducing Scam Calls Industry Code.
On 24 March 2022, we entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to share information about strategic approaches, exchange intelligence and assist each other with investigations into unlawful communications.
Other telco compliance activities
We started 15 investigations into telco compliance with:
- Telecommunications Consumer Protections Code (TCP Code) rules that require telcos to lodge annual compliance attestations with Communications Compliance Ltd (11) and meet minimum advertising requirements (1)
- Reducing Scam Calls Industry Code rules (1)
- priority assistance obligations (1)
- identity checking requirements when selling prepaid mobile services (1).
We issued Optus Internet a remedial direction where it must undertake an independent audit of how it notifies customers of their maximum internet speed. Our investigation found that Optus Internet failed to suitably notify more than 34,000 customers that they were not receiving the level of service they had purchased. Optus self-reported the non-compliance to us.
We also accepted a court enforceable undertaking from TPG that requires it to commission a similar independent audit. This followed TPG advising the ACMA that it had failed to provide more than 4,400 customers with the notifications required.
Optus and TPG are refunding affected customers.
We completed 6 investigations. View all our finalised investigations into telco providers.
We also started 24, and completed 28, assessments into telco compliance with a range of consumer safeguards, including requirements under the TCP Code, the Complaints Handling Standard and Carrier Licence Conditions.
Completed compliance activities
Telco complaints-handling performance
We released the September 2021 telco complaints report. The weighted average time taken for customer complaints to be resolved was 7.1 days, down from 18.8 days for the same quarter last year.
Complaints per 10,000 services remained steady at 63 and the escalation rate of complaints to the TIO declined from 12.5% at this time last year, to 7.5%.
Rule-making activities
The Telecommunications Act 1997 allows the ACMA to give an infringement notice if a civil penalty provision is not followed. On 24 March 2022, we increased the range of civil penalty provisions where we can issue an infringement notice by making the Telecommunications (Listed Infringement Notice Provisions) Declaration 2022.
In March 2022, we also made the Telecommunications (Infringement Notices) Guidelines 2022. The guidelines establish principles that we must consider when issuing an infringement notice. They also help the telco industry and the broader community to understand how we use our infringement notice powers.
Key stakeholder forums
The Consumer Consultative Forum (CCF) allows key consumer, industry and government stakeholders to meet and discuss current telco issues impacting consumers. The CCF met online on 28 February 2022.
On 14 February 2022, we convened the Prepaid Determination Working Group (PDWG), which comprised of participants from industry, law enforcement and national security agencies, and other government agencies. The PDWG discussed issues relating to the operation of the Telecommunications (Service Provider – Identity Checks for Prepaid Mobile Carriage Services) Determination 2017.
