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South Okanagan Photos

Unfair practice to end says Harper Government

Industry Minister James Moore says the government will introduce legislation to end what is called pay-to-pay, the practice of charging people extra for a monthly bill on paper.

“We do not believe that Canadians should pay more to receive a paper copy of their telephone or wireless bill,” Moore said in a statement Friday.

The telecom firms met under the auspices of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunication Commission on Thursday and agreed to exempt some people, including seniors, the disabled, military vets and people without Internet access.

The CRTC said it wasn’t enough and called for another round of discussions, but that seems to have been overtaken by Moore’s announcement.

The minister says the practice of charging extra for paper invoices is unfair.

Moore says Canadians expect lower prices and better service from the telecoms.

“That is why our government committed to ending this unfair practice and putting the interests of Canadian consumers first,” he said.