Australia’s high mobile bills to end? The ACMA has announced that it has registered the new rules for third-party mobile content services that are directly billed to peoples’ mobile phone accounts. australia high mobile bills

Announcing the move on Monday, the ACMA warned that mobile content services, which can include ringtones, competitions, games and premium phone lines, can lead to people making unintentional purchases and running up the cost of their bill.

Under the new rules, the new  Mobile Premium Services Code which came into effect on 3 December – and which was developed by industry peak body Communications Alliance – will impose a $20 monthly cap on mobile content services.

But CA says that people that want to spend above the $20 limit can do so by making a request to their mobile service provider.

The code will not cover content services that require people to register and create an account, such as Netflix, Spotify or Google Play, which can be billed to a mobile account. With the new rules, providers of these services will also be required to send notifications letting people know when they have spent $10 on any one service – which the ACMA say will help ensure people are better informed of their expenditure.

Communications Alliance CEO, John Stanton, said the stronger MPS Code will minimize any risk that consumers will unknowingly run up sizeable bills on third-party services, “while preserving the convenience that third-party purchasing provides for the many thousands of Australians who choose to use it”.

CA lists key safeguards added to the MPS Code as including: australia high mobile bills

• a new default monthly spend limit of $20 for all new residential and small business customers to assist consumers with their spending management and to avoid the possibility of ‘bill shock’, while still allowing for a limited number of one-off purchases and charitable giving via SMS. Existing and new customers continue to have the ability to set their own spending limits for such purchases;
• the inclusion of premium direct billing services in all rules relating to advertising, information provision and supply of the service, complaint handling and mechanisms to unsubscribe and opt-out of such services;
• a new obligation for telecoms providers to introduce a Customer Verification Process which requires Customer Verification prior to the ability to subscribe to a Subscription Premium Service
• an obligation for telecom providers that include third-party charges on a customer’s bill to address all inquiries and resolve all complaints they receive relating to those charges, directly with their customer; and strengthened obligations to ensure consumers are informed on how to bar premium services.