Canada’s cellphone companies face $12B class action suit over ‘system access fees’
Thursday June 28, 2012
The Supreme Court of Canada is allowing a multi-billion dollar class action suit to proceed against Canada’s biggest cellphone companies over the “system access fees” they charged.
Thursday June 28, 2012
The Supreme Court of Canada is allowing a multi-billion dollar class action suit to proceed against Canada’s biggest cellphone companies over the “system access fees” they charged.
The high court declined to hear an appeal by the phone companies of a Saskatchewan lower court decision that certified the suit in 2008 against six companies, including, Bell, Rogers, Fido and Telus.
When the action, which argues that the companies falsely led subscribers to believe their system access fees were required by federal regulators, was initially filed in 2004, it estimated that the industry collected about $800 million annually from the extra charges.
The suit, which targets about $12 billion (plus interest) in customer charges collected over 20 years, is described as the country’s largest-ever class action, since every cellphone user in Canada — roughly half the population — is potentially affected
