SkyChoice starts formal arbitration against CCTS

Agency refusing to honor code of conduct resulting in increased costs and lack of choice for consumers - Aug 04, 2021

OAKVILLE - August 4, 2021: SkyChoice Communications Inc. engaged the Alternative Dispute Resolution Institute of Canada (ADRIC) to proceed with formal binding arbitration against the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS) after the agency failed to abide by their code of conduct and breached their participation agreement by refusing several attempts to participate in informal arbitration since November 2020.

The ADRIC Arbitration Rules along with Ontario's Arbitration Act dictate that any organization who has an mandatory arbitration clause in their agreement shall not refuse any reasonable arbitration request filed in good faith to resolve disagreements between two parties unless the agreement itself is deemed invalid under a court of law.

"By refusing arbitration, the CCTS is acting in bad faith by essentially trying to shield themselves against any legal liability for failing to abide by their agreements as the courts will generally refuse to hear most cases when a mandatory arbitration clause is in play" said Serge Cormier, SkyChoice CEO.

The issue at hand is the lack of rights for consumers in choosing which third party organization they wish to use when resolving escalated telecom provider disputes. Currently, the CCTS is attempting to dictate that they are the sole organization capable of handling telcom complaints even though as per their agreement, they are legally not allowed to hear any complaints which are being or have already been heard by another agency capable of handling complaints such as the Better Business Bureau (BBB).

By rehearing complaints which have already been processed by other agencies, the CCTS is not only wasting valuable time and resources but is also forcing unnecessary costs to be incurred as participating service providers such as SkyChoice are charged fees of up to $1006.68 for each complaint filed with the CCTS in which providers eventually have to be recover from all consumers with subsequent service rate increases as fees can't be charged to individual customers even if they file a false or invalid complaint.

"With these excessive fees being charged by the CCTS along with the CRTC's rescinding of their 2019 decision to lower wholesale Internet rates, it is no surprise that Canada is amongst the top 5 most expensive countries when it comes to Internet". said Cormier.

More than ever especially given these challenging times, SkyChoice remains committed in providing fair and affordable high quality TV, Internet and home phone services for Canadians. Get the latest updates on our arbitration efforts with the CCTS on our website at https://www.skychoice.ca/cctsarbitration


About SkyChoice Communications
Since 2013, SkyChoice has been offering innovative and value added television, home phone and high speed Internet services across Canada. In addition to DSL and Cable, SkyChoice also offers Internet service direct to the home or business via its own WiFibe wireless fiber network which continues to expand on a regular basis. For more information, please visit: www.skychoice.ca