Australia’s Communications Alliance has proposed stronger, enforceable protections for telecom services customers. The proposals have been submitted to industry regulator Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) for registration. The Communications Alliance has submitted to the ACMA a revised draft version of the Telecommunications Consumer Protections (TCP) Code, following a review of the Code by industry, consumers and other stakeholders.
The TCP Code is a code of conduct for the telecommunications industry in Australia, designed to provide community safeguards in the areas of sales, service and contracts, billing, credit and debt management, financial hardship, and changing suppliers. Compliance with the Code is mandatory for all telecommunications providers servicing residential and small business consumers, and is enforceable by the ACMA.
The proposed changes are designed to strengthen consumer protections across a range of areas, with a focus on selling practices, credit assessment and greater transparency around the customer service performance of individual service providers. The changes seek to address concerns raised by consumer advocates and to make the code more adaptable to new and future technologies.
Proposed changes also include expanding Code protections to more small businesses. The current Code applies to small businesses with an annual telecommunications spend limit of AUD 20,000. The proposed Code expands this to small businesses with an annual spend of up to AUD 40,000. There are also additional rules to support consumers with a disability or vulnerable consumers, including mandatory training for all staff who interact with consumers.