Telcos will be given time to implement ACMA's recommendations in their own self-regulatory industry codes but if they do not do so in a satisfactory way ACMA said it would force them to do so with new regulations. "The outcomes that we are seeking ... are non-negotiable," Mr Chapman said. One of the key ACMA recommendations is a ban on the misleading use of terms such as "cap" and "unlimited", which often fool consumers as in most cases the "cap" represents a minimum rather than maximum spend. Claims of broadband speeds would also need to be substantiated. This will be supplemented by new "unit pricing" rules so consumers will easily be able to tell from advertisements what is included in their plan and what costs extra. Mr Chapman said this would cut through the "confusopoly" that passes for marketing in the telco sector. "We found that marketing and advertising practices in this industry are simply not good enough," ACMA's public inquiry manager Claire O'Reilly said.

"Many consumers don't understand the difference between what they pay within a plan and what they pay outside of the plan." Low-cost carrier Amaysim, based on a popular model in Europe, today announced a $39.90 "unlimited" mobile plan but said it was not in breach of ACMA's new recommendations as its use of the unlimited term was justified (unlimited standard national calls, voicemail retrievals, texts, social networking and MMS). ACMA said it did not yet have a view on whether Amaysim's new plan was misleading. At point of sale, ACMA says that telcos would also be required to provide consumers with a one-page critical information disclosure that summarises their plan and details on how they can complain. Under the recommendations, consumers would be able to nominate a maximum credit limit on their account each month and receive real-time alerts when they are approaching that limit. Any telco that failed to allow their customers to take control of their accounts and spending would not be allowed to change the customer any more than a suggested 30 per cent in excess of the plan's "cap".

Therefore, if a customer was on a $49 plan, the telco would only be able to charge them $63.70 at maximum, even if thousands of dollars in charges were racked up. "If it is implemented this recommendation could signal the end of 'bill shock'," said Teresa Corbin, chief executive of the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN). "Importantly, it would finally give customers the ability to plan and monitor their monthly spend and real-time information to track it." Minimum complaints handling standards would be implemented and telcos with more than 30,000 customers would be forced to report to ACMA the total number of contacts made by existing customers and the number of repeat contacts made by the same customer within a 45-day period. They would also have to report the total number of complaints received, which willl be judged against the number of customers they have.

ACMA said its aim was to ensure that complaints were being resolved by providers without consumers having to resort to contacting the TIO. ACMA has also recommended that the TIO be given more powers and better processes to help it deal with the mountain of complaints being received. Asked to nominate the worst horror story ACMA encountered in its inquiry, Ms O'Reilly gave the example of an elderly client who received a bill for $1200 for broadband usage and agreed to pay this off in instalments. Without any notice to him, his home phone was disconnected. "That home phone was actually connected to an emergency button ... which obviously meant he had no protection if something had gone wrong," Ms O'Reilly said. There will be a six-week consultation period after which ACMA expects the industry to begin implementing its recommendations. Mr Chapman said if the industry did not address its concerns in its TCP self-regulatory code, which is being revised, then ACMA would refuse to register the new code.

"The die is cast, we've put it all out there in the report, the 'guidance' has been provided ... the clock is ticking," he said. The telco industry body, Communications Alliance, welcomed ACMA's report and said the industry was already implementing "a number of the recommendations". "Some recommendations go further than envisaged by the current TCP Code draft, which already incorporates wide-ranging improvements to consumer protections and industry practices in areas such as product disclosure, complaint handling, advertising, code compliance and spend management tools," said Communications Alliance CEO John Stanton. "Industry will examine all the ACMA recommendations in detail and explore the potential to incorporate elements not already covered by the revised draft Code." Loading

Vodafone Hutchison Australia also welcomed the report and said it provided "a clear direction for future customer service improvements". This reporter is on Twitter: @ashermoses