The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has issued formal warnings to four telecommunications companies (telcos) for failing to join the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) Scheme as required.
The Authority said the scheme was Australia’s independent dispute resolution service for consumers and small businesses with an unresolved complaint about their phone or internet service.
ACMA said that during an investigation it found that ATS Telecoms, Bottle Communications, Dataphone and Essential Online allegedly contravened the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999 by failing to join the scheme.
Chair of ACMA, Nerida O’Loughlin said consumer protections were undermined by telcos if they failed to join the TIO Scheme, as the TIO was unable to handle complaints about telcos that were not members.
“It’s unacceptable that these companies were not members, and that they ignored multiple requests from the TIO to join,” Ms O’Loughlin said.
“While all four companies have since become members of the scheme, it is disappointing that the ACMA had to get involved before they took their obligations seriously,” she said.
“By failing to sign up, these companies were denying their customers access to the important protections offered by the scheme.”
Ms O’Loughlin said the ability to have complaints heard and resolved by an organisation that was independent of the telcos was a fundamental consumer protection.
She said ACMA encouraged people who were thinking of switching providers to check that the provider was a member of the TIO Scheme.
Information on how to check if a provider is a member of the Scheme can be found at this PS News link.
