New powers see ACMA armed to crack down on telcos

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy announced on Wednesday plans to arm the Australian Communications and Media Authority with the power to punish telcos for failure to comply with the industry code. This is designed to give ACMA the flexibility to introduce consumer protection measures, including creating new rules on clearer advertising, internet and phone usage alerts, billing information, and complaint handling procedures. Senator Conroy said that aim was to achieve better outcomes for consumers and a reduction in complaints to telcos about their services.

Under the new rules, ACMA will be given the power to issue a “service provider direction,” which will speed up ACMA’s response time if it finds the industry is not abiding by the new Telecommunications Consumer Protection code. If telcos ignore the direction, ACMA will be able to take the companies to court for civil damages and fines as high as $250,000. Although telcos have all agreed to abide by the code, these new powers will grant ACMA the power to enforce it.

For more Australian competition law take a look at our Competition and Consumer Service and contact TimeBase to trial our product for free.