Critical information summaries (CIS), which provide an easy-to-follow summary of the main costs associated with mobile phone plans, have been compulsory for Australian phone providers since the beginning of March, and make it much easier for consumers to ensure they don’t get caught out by unexpected plan conditions. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is already enforcing that requirement, and says it has already told 38 providers to make sure they are following the code.
“To date, we’ve examined 94 CISs from 50 suppliers,” a statement from ACMA said. “This has led to 38 preliminary enquiries — 13 to providers that did not have readily accessible CISs on their websites and 25 to providers with flawed CISs.” Another 50 suppliers are about to be examined.
At this stage, ACMA is only seeking to ensure carriers meet the requirements, which include pricing details and information about conditions. ACMA can issue formal warnings in the case of repeat offenders.
The absence of an easily accessible CIS was one of the criticisms levelled at Kogan Mobile following its recent blitz of policy enforcement. A link to the CIS now appears on the Kogan site’s plan page.
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