Peak communications consumer body ACCAN has today warned that mis-selling among telco providers remains rife, with new polling confirming that more than one in five consumers reported feeling pressured to purchase a more expensive plan than they wanted.
In addition, over 1 in 3 Australians have experienced changes to their contracts that were unexpected, such as changes to costs or terms and conditions, according to nationally representative data from the Third Wave of ACCAN's Consumer Sentiment Tracker conducted by Essential Research.
The members of the Fair Call Coalition, an alliance of 23 consumer and community organisations, said these findings reinforce the urgent need for direct regulation to address ongoing consumer harm in essential telecommunications services.
The Coalition noted that high-pressure sales practices, unexpected contract changes and broader issues with credit assessments and disconnection continue to be widespread.
The TCP Code, which in the Coalition's view does not provide appropriate community safeguards, has been sitting with the ACMA for review and approval or rejection for months now, which means that consumers are not protected from ongoing harm.
The Coalition are calling on the ACMA to reject the TCP Code and implement direct regulation in areas of the Code that have been harmful to consumers for years including irresponsible sales practices, inadequate credit assessments, unfair disconnections and misleading coverage information.
ACCAN's Consumer Sentiment Tracker, which has been running for over a year, found that a cohort of consumers consistently report feeling pressured to purchase more expensive contracts than they wanted or needed. The upcoming third wave of Tracker data indicate that high pressure sales practices remain entrenched - with 22% of consumers reporting feeling pressured.
The latest findings have been reinforced by Roy Morgan's latest national quarterly report into trust and distrust in the Australian economy, which found that telecommunications has fallen to be the nation's least-trusted sector.
Quotes from Fair Call Coalition members
Carol Bennett, ACCAN CEO, said, "Despite the ACMA finding the current code to be deficient and rejecting the revised TCP Code presented by industry at the end of last year, they still haven't moved to directly regulate consumer protections. This is leaving consumers at ongoing risk of harm."
"Despite the essentiality of telecommunications, ACCAN's research conducted by Essential Research has reinforced that trust in this sector is in the doldrums and consumer wellbeing is at threat. Consumers feeling unprotected plays no small part in this result."
Alan Gray, Managing Director of Bush Money Mob (Broome, WA), said, "The Consumer Sentiment Tracker initiative aligns exactly with what our remote Aboriginal clients are experiencing around the Outback. Remote financial counsellors know that large telcos simply have not learned the lessons after fines of $50 million (Telstra) and $100 million (Optus). Direct regulation cannot come swiftly enough."
Stephanie Tonkin, CEO of the Consumer Action Law Centre, said, "The time has long-since passed for the telco industry's self-regulated Code to be put in the bin, as it has manifestly failed to protect Australia's consumers - especially those in the most vulnerable situations - from harm.
"We continue to hear from people impacted by misselling and unfair disconnections, and I am calling on ACMA to end the delay, do the right thing, and finally regulate this vital, essential service."
Corey Irlam, Acting CEO of COTA Australia, said, "Telecommunications is an essential service and must be firmly regulated by the ACMA. Older Australians, on behalf of all consumers, are calling for clear, enforceable minimum standards that guarantee strong consumer protections. People of all ages deserve confidence that their communications services are properly and rigorously regulated."
"It's crucial that measures are put in place to ensure that no consumer is ever pressured into purchasing telecommunications products they don't need or want."
Jillian Williams, Advocacy Manager at the Indigenous Consumer Assistance Network, said, "ICAN has been supporting hundreds of people who have experienced significant loss and stress as a result of telco misconduct that was allowed to occur over many years. A strong and enforceable Code, delivering stronger consumer protections could have prevented much of the harm our service has seen."
The third wave of ACCAN's Consumer Sentiment Tracker research suite will be available in coming weeks. A deep-dive into reliability is now available.
About us:
The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) is Australia's peak communication consumer organisation. The operation of ACCAN is made possible by funding provided by the Commonwealth of Australia under section 593 of the Telecommunications Act 1997. This funding is recovered from charges on telecommunications carriers.
