Hamilton, Bermuda – Monday, February 18, 2019 – The Regulatory Authority (‘the Authority’) of Bermuda today announced that Bermuda’s electronic communications (telecommunications) and electricity sectors will soon be guided by two new sets of standards to further protect consumers, which are released for consultation.
They are the Principles of Consumer Protection (‘Consumer Protection’) and Market Review. Consumer Protection aims to provide a single point of reference to protect consumers’ interests, promote the delivery of high-quality services and products and encourage best practices by licensee’s in both the electronic communications and electricity sectors.
That includes honest marketing and advertising, bills that are easy to understand and better handling of complaints and covers services such as fixed and mobile telephone, long distance, internet access, subscription television and supply of electricity.
Market Review offers a further degree of protection for consumers by analyzing the state of competition in the various electronic communications markets such as broadband and mobile, to determine whether there are operators with significant market power that may hinder competition.
The overarching objective of the Review is to create a regulatory environment where positive consumer developments are sustainable and enduring and if so, whether remedies should be applied, or if existing regulations should be removed.
Authority Chief Executive, Denton Williams commented: “The Regulatory Authority is mandated to ensure that providers of electronic communications and electricity services treat their customers in a transparent manner and deliver services that are reliable, efficient, adequate and safe.
“We are committed to protecting the rights of consumers and believe that the Consumer Protection and Market Review protects consumers and promotes business practices and pricing that are both fair and reasonable.”
The Principles of Consumer Protection and Market Review are currently open for public consultation.
The Authority invites interested parties to submit comments on the Authority’s website under Consultations and Responses. The deadline for submission for Consumer Protection is March 15th and March 7, 2019 for Market Review.
