Action on telco consumer protections: April to June 2022

Telco compliance activities: 2021–22 compliance priorities

Protecting vulnerable telco customers

On 24 May 2022, we released a statement of expectations for the telco industry about supporting customers experiencing vulnerability. The expectations cover all key aspects of customer interactions – from selling practices and customer service to providing financial hardship support. Telcos are expected to be proactive in identifying and dealing with customers in vulnerable circumstances.

Telco complaints-handling for small business customers

On 23 June 2022, we released the results of our audit into telco compliance with complaints-handling rules for small business customers.

The audit required 8 telcos to each assess up to 600 complaints they received from small business customers between June and November 2021 against the complaint response-time requirements of the Complaints Handling Standard.

Overall, the results were positive and did not suggest there were systemic compliance issues with the complaint response-time requirements.

Phone scams

Telcos blocked over 110 million scam calls in the quarter under the Reducing Scam Calls Industry Code. This brought the total blocked calls to just over 660 million since the code came into effect in December 2020.

On 22 April 2022, we entered into a memorandum of understanding with New Zealand’s Department of Internal Affairs to:

• further promote strategic engagement
• facilitate information sharing
• enhance compliance and enforcement outcomes.

Other telco compliance activities

We started 7 investigations into telco compliance with:

• TCP Code rules that require telcos to comply with financial hardship obligations (1).
• Regulatory requirements relating to compliance with carrier licence conditions (1).  
• Legislation that requires telcos to join the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) scheme or to comply with TIO decisions (4).
• The Integrated Public Number Database (IPND) service provider rule and the IPND Code rules that require telcos to keep customer data accurate and up-to-date in the IPND (1).

We completed 17 investigations into telco compliance with:

• TCP Code rules that require telcos to lodge compliance attestations with Communications Compliance (CommCom) in 2021 (10).
• Legislation that requires telcos to join the TIO scheme or to comply with TIO decisions (3).
• TCP Code rules that require telcos to include any important conditions or qualifications in their advertising (1).
• Reducing Scam Calls Code rules requiring telcos to investigate, trace and notify other telcos about alleged scam calls (2).
• Telecommunications (Mobile Number Pre-Porting Additional Identity Verification) Industry Standard 2020 rules that require telcos to use an additional identity verification process before porting in a number (1).

Our compliance and enforcement outcomes included:

• Giving Telstra a $506,160 infringement notice after it overcharged more than 10,000 customers almost $12 million over a 12-year period.
• Accepting a court-enforceable undertaking from Telstra to ensure compensation owed to customers for failing to meet connection and fault performance standards is paid on time. Internal Telstra system errors led to delayed Customer Service Guarantee compensation payments of more than $11 million owed to over 67,000 customers.
• Giving Lycamobile a $186,480 infringement notice for repeat contraventions in relation to previous enforcement actions for public safety failures including failing to provide information to the IPND.
• Formally warning Symbio Networks and Symbio Wholesale for contraventions of the Reducing Scam Calls Code after they failed to investigate, trace and notify other telcos about alleged scam calls.
• Directing SpinTel to comply with the TCP Code after it incorrectly used the term ‘unlimited’ in its advertisements.
• Directing 6 telcos (PennyTel, AirTel, 1Telecom, Just ISP, City Communications, New Sprout) to comply with the TCP Code and issuing a $13,320 infringement notice to Exetel. We found they had failed to submit compulsory compliance statements to CommCom in 2021. Exetel paid the infringement notice after previously being directed to comply with the TCP Code in 2019.

View our finalised enforcement actions into telco providers. Please note that we do not generally publish ‘no breach’ findings or investigation reports prior to enforcement action being taken.

We also started 14 compliance assessments and completed 16 compliance assessments into telco compliance with a range of consumer safeguards, including requirements under the TCP Code.

Completed compliance activities

Telco complaints-handling performance

We released the December 2021 telco complaints report. The weighted average time taken for customer complaints resolution was 8.4 days, down from 11.8 days for the same quarter last year.

Complaints per 10,000 services were down slightly from 61 to 59, and the escalation rate of complaints to the TIO declined from 11.1% to 6.9% from the same time the previous year.

Rule-making activities

In April 2022, we made the Telecommunications (Customer Identity Authentication) Service Provider Determination 2022 (Determination). It aims to protect customers from identify theft and fraud by requiring telcos to use multi-factor authentication before making high-risk customer transactions such as SIM swaps. We will be monitoring telco compliance with the new rules and have enforcement actions available for telcos who breach them, including court proceedings.

In June 2022, we made the Telecommunications (Payphone Performance Benchmarks) Record-Keeping Rules 2022 (RKRs). The RKRs ensure that the primary universal service provider (Telstra) keeps and provides the ACMA with information to effectively monitor and enforce compliance with the payphone benchmarks.

Key stakeholder forums

The Consumer Consultative Forum (CCF) allows key consumer, industry and government stakeholders to meet and discuss telco issues impacting consumers. The CCF met online on 25 May 2022. Issues discussed included the TCP Code, the National Self-exclusion Register and the consumer vulnerability statement of expectations for telcos.

We held the Numbering Advisory Committee meeting on 23 June 2022, with local number porting and use of numbers the key agenda topics.

The ACMA’s Scam Telecommunications Action Taskforce met on 27 April 2022, with identity fraud and SMS scams the key topics of discussion.

Compliance priorities for 2022–23

We released our 2022–23 compliance priorities. Our new telco priorities include:

• Protecting telco customers experiencing financial hardship. Financial pressures can happen at any time and for many reasons, including job loss, illness, family or domestic violence, natural disasters or the COVID-19 pandemic. We’ll be focusing on telco customers experiencing financial hardship and making sure telcos comply with their obligations, especially those relating to the disconnection of services.  
• Combating SMS and identity theft phone scams. Phone scams have severe financial and social impacts on Australians. We’ll be enforcing new rules that require telcos to use stronger ID checks for transactions targeted by scammers, including SIM swap requests. We’ll also be establishing and enforcing new rules to reduce SMS scams.

View our 2022–23 compliance priorities.