OTTAWA, 8 December 2022 – The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) and the National Pensioners Federation (NPF) hailed the decision of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) today to deny TELUS Communications Inc. (“TELUS”) the ability to surcharge its customers a proposed “credit card processing fee”.

“No credit card surcharging on telecommunications!” exulted John Lawford, PIAC’s Executive Director and General Counsel. “The CRTC decision is also a warning to all other cellphone, Internet and home phone companies not to effectively double charge their customers for simply paying their bills with a credit card, which is normal,” he added.

PIAC and NPF argued that the credit card surcharge, which TELUS proposed to apply to certain regulated telephone services customers in Alberta and British Columbia would harm all customers but in particular, those living on lower incomes and on fixed pensions.

“The problem of inflation on necessities such as food, heating and communications is eating into our seniors retirement funds to the point it affects their quality of life,” noted Trish McAuliffe,  President of NPF. “TELUS did not consider the larger implications of its behaviour,” she added.

Lawford also noted that the CRTC decision is a bellwether across consumer markets apart from telecommunications: “This decision says to business: ‘just don’t do this’.”

For more information, please contact:

 

Public Interest Advocacy Centre

John Lawford

Executive Director and General Counsel

Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC)

1-613-562-4002 ext. 125

jlawford@piac.ca

 

National Pensioners Federation

Trish McAuliffe

President

National Pensioners Federation

905-706-5806

Trish.mcauliffe@npfmail.ca

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