Remember TPG's $26.95/month plan that cost at least $42.85/month due to hidden data charges? Or Telstra's "Broadband Amnesties" in the face of complaints about unfair terms and conditions? Or ISP contracts forbidding customers from complaining to the TIO?

The Australian Communications Industry Forum (ACIF) has released a new industry code that will make unfair and deceptive contracts a thing of the past.

The Consumer Contracts Code will cover ISP dial-up and broadband contracts, as well as mobile and landline telephone agreements. After it is approved by the Australian Communications Authority, the code will be binding on all ISPs and telecommunications service providers, who will face penalties if it is breached.

The code meets two key consumer complaints - that the wording of contracts is too complex, legalistic or technical for the average person to understand and that service providers vary terms and conditions after consumers have signed up without offering them a chance to terminate the agreement. Minimum requirements for the structure and content of contracts, standards for judging the fairness of terms and conditions and the use of plain language will put an end to these complaints, the ACIF hopes.

Anne Hurley, ACIF CEO, described the new code as "a great step forward for industry self-regulation", promising "effective consumer protection".

The ACA is expected to approve the code quickly. The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman will record all potential and confirmed breaches of the code and report them to the ACA.

Telstra has just announced plans to bring its contracts into line with the new code. David Moffatt, group managing director, consumer and marketing, said Telstra's revised contracts would introduce "improvements ranging from giving customers more information about costs up front to giving customers refunds in certain circumstances".

Links:

• Consumer Contracts Code (PDF)  (ACIF, 28 Feb 2005)
• Telstra plans 'better' contracts  (SMH, 24 Feb 2004)