Dialling up the rhetoric against mobile phone companies, the Ontario government plans to legislate “plain-language” cell contracts for more transparent pricing.

In the Liberals’ fourth bid to tackle the providers with a populist law, Consumer Minister Tracy MacCharles would also cap the costs of cancelling cell phone service.

“Ontario consumers want to easy-to-understand cell phone and wireless contracts with no hidden costs,” MacCharles said Thursday.

“We want to remove the confusion and frustration that comes with unclear contracts,” she said.

Similar legislation was introduced a year ago but died on the order paper when former premier Dalton McGuinty prorogued the legislature when he announced his retirement on Oct. 15.

Previously, Liberal MPP David Orazietti (Sault Ste Marie), who is now minister of natural resources, had twice introduced private-members’ legislation designed to help consumers.

The latest proposed legislation would not deal with federally-regulated areas such as the cost of phone, texting, and data services.

However, it would cap cancellation fees for fixed-term contracts at $50.

Some carriers have charged up to $600 to break contracts.

The Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association, which represents major firms like Bell, Rogers, and Telus, has repeatedly warned that such measures would actually increase costs for users because of the expense involved in complying.

As well, the companies maintain that many of the measures in the Ontario law have already been dealt with, including an end to automatic renewal of three-year contracts.

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