{"id":775400,"date":"2026-07-02T12:12:49","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T12:12:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/775400\/"},"modified":"2026-07-02T12:12:49","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T12:12:49","slug":"crtc-reviewing-whether-canadian-telecoms-violated-new-ban-on-junk-fees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/775400\/","title":{"rendered":"CRTC reviewing whether Canadian telecoms violated new ban on junk fees"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

CRTC chair Vicky Eatrides in Gatineau, Que., in April. The regulator enacted a new policy this month prohibiting telecoms from charging certain fees.Justin Tang\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Canada\u2019s telecommunications regulator is launching a review to determine if the Big Three providers have violated its new rules banning so-called junk fees.<\/p>\n

The CRTC announced the consultation Tuesday, saying it will require Bell Canada BCE-T<\/a>, Telus Corp. T-T<\/a> and Rogers Communications Inc. RCI-B-T<\/a> to demonstrate their fees do not contravene its policy<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The new regulations came into effect June 12 prohibiting activation, modification and cancellation fees in a bid to make it easier for customers to switch internet and cellphone plans without having to worry about unexpected costs.<\/p>\n

Bell, Telus, Rogers will continue charging cellphone fees despite CRTC requests to stop<\/a><\/p>\n

If the commission determines the companies have violated the rules, they could face monetary penalties of up to $10 million while relevant managers could be penalized up to $25,000. The regulator could also order the providers to comply with the policy within 60 days.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will be asking for evidence from them. We will be asking them to justify themselves and then there\u2019ll be decisions made by the commission as to what are the next steps going forward.,\u201d Scott Hutton, the CRTC\u2019s vice-president of consumer, analytics and strategy, said in an interview earlier this month.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe one thing I can say is that we\u2019re taking this case seriously and we will move quite quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bell, Telus and Rogers \u2013 along with members of the public \u2013 have until July 30 to submit comments. A deadline of Aug. 10 is in place for the companies to respond to matters raised by others during the review.<\/p>\n

The CRTC has warned each of the companies over their recently introduced fees. It said the charges do not appear to qualify for an exemption to the new policy meant for optional services or equipment customers choose to purchase.<\/p>\n

The companies argue those specific fees are related to optional products and were introduced to help them recover their own costs.<\/p>\n

In May, Bell introduced a $40 device handling fee that applies when customers purchase a device along with their wireless service plan. Then came Telus\u2019 $15 fee for customers switching to a new SIM card, with an additional $10 shipping charge applicable in some cases.<\/p>\n

The commission has also accused Rogers of charging customers a new $40 device setup fee, a $25 shipping charge and an unspecified SIM card fee. Rogers said the shipping and SIM fees are not new, and that the latter is only charged when a customer replaces a lost or damaged SIM, rather than at activation.<\/p>\n

But when it comes to device and SIM fees, Hutton said the CRTC doesn\u2019t view those as optional because cellphone plans are dependent on accompanying hardware.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou need a phone for your plan. It\u2019s no more complicated than that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomeone else is saying, \u2018Oh, well I\u2019ll charge you for a SIM card.\u2019 You need a SIM card for your plan. Those are not optional.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bell, Telus and Rogers did not immediately respond to requests for comment. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: CRTC chair Vicky Eatrides in Gatineau, Que., in April. The regulator enacted a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":775401,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,66,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-775400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-science","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/775400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=775400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/775400\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/775401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=775400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=775400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=775400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}