It’s time to end ridiculous paper billing fees in Canada
Someday, in the not too distant future, a group of former Canadian telco execs will gather in a dark paneled private club to remember the “the good old days”.
“Remember how much we charged for basic cable?”, one will say. A few chuckles.
Looking to top his colleague, another will mention how Canadians were forced to watch Canadian Tire commercials during the Super Bowl. Laughter.
“That’s nothing,” a third will offer. “Remember when we used to charge people JUST TO GET THEIR BILL?!!!” Falling off chairs.
Yes, it’s true. Look at the bottom of your Rogers, Bell, or Telus bill. See the “paper invoice fee”? Yep, you are actually being charged to receive your bill.
Wait a minute, isn’t billing your customer simply a cost of doing business?
Not according to the CRTC, which has not banned the practice, despite widespread incredulity on the part of Canadians.
Many companies that have adopted the fee greenwash their actions.
“At Rogers, we believe that paperless billing is the way to go for a bunch of reasons, explained the telco in the “Rogers Redboard” section of its website. “For one, it reduces paper, which saves trees and the environment.”
The second issue is that this is a negative billing option. Those who don’t scan their bill closely might not even be aware it exists.
NDP MP Andrew Cash is a vocal opponent of paper billing fees. He says companies who have adopted the practice are being disingenuous about it.
“If it’s costing them so much money to send out a bill, then they should be passing on those savings to their customers, which they haven’t done,” said Cash.
In other parts of the North America, paper billing fees are being met with even more hostility. In Pennsylvania, The Public Utility Commission last year determined that charging customers for a bill was “an unjust and unreasonable practice.”
“The PUC believes the cost of paper bills should be part of normal service rates and not collected with a separate charge”, spokesperson Robin Tilley told The Morning Call.
Back in Canada, the federal NDP party has taken up the cause with an online petition to stop the practice.
“This is an obvious cash-grab, worth millions of dollars and it is largely Canadian seniors who are being stuck with the bill,” says the web page. “The NDP is calling on the Conservative Government and all of its agencies, to take action, stop the rip-offs and prohibit Pay-to-Pay Fees.”
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Cantech Letter founder and editor Nick Waddell has lived in five Canadian provinces and is proud of his country's often overlooked contributions to the world of science and technology. Waddell takes a regular shift on the Canadian media circuit, making appearances on CTV, CBC and BNN, and contributing to publications such as Canadian Business and Business Insider.
You're right Nick, I'll have our teams look at updating that page. In the fall, the federal government legislated that there will be no more paper bill fees. I don't imagine we put out a press release about it.
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To be fair, TELUS ditched this practiced in December, they no longer charge a paper bill fee.
Hello Nick,
We stopped charging paper bill fees in December 2014.
Let us know if you have any questions on Twitter @RogersHelps
Chris, I can't find a press release on that and your own web site says you still charge a two dollar fee:
http://www.rogers.com/web/link/eBillSignInFlow
You're right Nick, I'll have our teams look at updating that page. In the fall, the federal government legislated that there will be no more paper bill fees. I don't imagine we put out a press release about it.