When customers receive their latest bill in the post, the flyer from the Communications Workers Union appears with it.

The document states: “Big businesses are trying to take away the choice you have on how you receive your bill. The Commission for Communications Regulation has left it up to them to decide how they will issue bills to customers in the future. You currently receive a full itemised bill from Eircom free of charge but if you want to stay with paper billing and enjoy the control and transparency it allows, you will have to act now to inform the company yourself. Otherwise you can be switched automatically to online billing without your consent. Big businesses are not acting in your interest — they’re acting in their own.”

It then asks the customer to send a portion of the flyer which contains the message: “I wish to confirm that my preference is to receive fully itemised paper bills from eircom” to Eircom’s address in St John’s Rd, Dublin.

The union said it initiated the campaign following a decision by Comreg allowing telecom operators to require their customers to have to opt in if they wish to receive their bills by post.

It said its campaign advising customers of their rights to continue to receive a paper bill and asking that they exercise this right by opting in to receive bills by post.

CWU national officer Sean McDonagh said: “Comreg has continued its sustained attack on An Post and its business in its latest decision allowing operators to cease sending bills through the post.

“This decision further damages An Post’s business, which is already bearing the cost of subsidising the universal service obligation for postal services to the tune of €60m. Comreg’s actions deny consumer choice and raise serious data protection issues in that customer email addresses will now be used for purposes for which they were not provided.”