The proposed changes to the legislation which gives the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) its teeth follows incidents of ISPs trying to pass on charges which were imposed on them for customer complaints.
Ombudsman John Pinnock said the move comes after the TIO was challenged by one of its ISP members late last year over its efforts to stop the service provider charging customers who brought complaints to the TIO.
-Our view, in general terms, is it's contrary to spirit of the scheme, Pinnock said.
As part of the TIO's scheme, which telcos and ISPs are obliged to join, members are charged complaint handling fees if the TIO receives a complaint from one of its customers. The funding system is seen as an incentive to its members to develop and maintain effective complaint handling, according to the TIO's Web site.
After looking at the options, the Federal Government was asked to amend the relevant legislation which would make it clear that the end user was not liable for the fees, Pinnock said. The proposed amendments to the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999 are due to go before Parliament shortly, Pinnock added.
However, the TIO has discovered that some ISPs have started using a term in contracts with customers which Pinnock believes is designed to sidestep the proposed changes to the Act.
He said that the term indicated that the ISP reserved the right to suspend their account if a customer took any proceeding against the company, including complaining to the TIO. -It's holding the customer hostage," Pinnock argued.
Although Pinnock admitted he didn't know how widespread the problem was, he said the TIO was currently looking into this and getting legal advice. -I'm going to take every effort I can to strike this issue down," Pinnock warned.
The TIO is a joke and needs to be investigated by the ACCC.