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TIO And ACMA To Tag Team Telco Trouble |
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Written by Adam Gosling
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Wednesday, 26 March 2008 |
The
Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO)
and the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) have
signed an MUO (memorandum of understanding) to promote closer
cooperation when they handle complaints, compliance and enforcement in
the Australian telecommunications industry.
The TIO already cooperates closely with regulatory bodies such as
ACCC and state Fair Trading and Consumer Affairs agencies, but this new
memorandum will see the TIO and ACMA exchange of information and advice
about
telecommunications consumer complaint investigations and trends.
The
two will also join together for compliance
and enforcement actions related to membership of the TIO scheme. With
the explosive growth of VoIP service providers experienced in
Australia over the past two years, it has been revealed that only just
over half of VoIP service providers have signed up to the TIO for
dispute resolution .
Established in 1993 under a Federal Act of
Parliament, the TIO is independent from the interests of industry, the
government and consumer organisations and provides a free and independent complaints
handling service to service providers and their customers.
"This document underlines the importance of the
relationship between my office and ACMA," said Telecommunications
Industry Ombudsman Deirdre O'Donnell. "It's in everyone's interest that
the TIO, ACMA and telecommunications service
providers work together to ensure that consumer complaints are resolved
in a fair and equitable way."
For its part, ACMA licenses
Australia's telecommunications carriers and regulates fixed line and
mobile telecommunications. The agency promotes self-regulation as its
main focus, but also has legislative power to enforce compliance with
these codes.
The industry codes are developed by industry bodies such
as the Communications Alliance, which ACMA works with closely. The
Codes are however, registered under section
117 of the Telecommunications Act 1997 to provide protection to
consumers in areas such as billing, credit management, complaint
handling, customer transfer, consumer contracts and advertising of
products and services.
The TIO has a policy and procedure for referring systemic problems to
ACMA under Part 6 of the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and
Service Standards) Act 1999.
‘While we each have our own responsibilities, there are strong
points of intersection between ACMA's regulatory role and the dispute
resolution role of the TIO. The TIO also provides us with a valuable
source of data for the assessment of industry performance. The
agreement acknowledges the importance we place on the maintenance of an
effective and productive working relationship with the TIO,' said Chris Chapman, ACMA
Chairman.
‘This MOU with the TIO is another demonstration of ACMA's
commitment to cooperating with other regulatory and industry bodies,'
Chapman said. ‘For example, ACMA works closely with the Australian
Competition and Consumer Commission to facilitate the flow of
information about between the two agencies and there are reciprocal
membership arrangements in place.
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