CRTC warns Rogers over $40 device setup fee and other new charges
The telecom giant introduced fees days after a CRTC policy banning them took effect. Bell and Telus have also received warnings.
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Rogers Communications began charging customers new fees—a $40 device setup charge, a $25 shipping fee, and an unspecified SIM card fee—on June 16, the day after a CRTC policy banning such charges took effect.
In a letter issued Tuesday, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission said these fees would not appear to fall under exemptions for optional services or products consumers voluntarily purchase. The CRTC has requested Rogers confirm whether it intends to drop the charges and warned it will "consider all available compliance options" to ensure consumers don't face barriers to switching cellphone and internet plans.
Rogers is the latest of Canada's Big Three providers to face a rebuke. The CRTC previously sent repeated letters to Bell Canada and Telus Corp. warning that their own recently introduced fees could violate the new policy, which took effect June 14. The rules ban telecoms from charging customers when they activate, change, or cancel plans, with exemptions only for add-on equipment not required to deliver service.