Telus faces court fight over alleged misleading conduct in B.C. fee probe

A dispute between Telus and Consumer Protection B.C. has escalated to the B.C. Supreme Court after the regulator said the telecom giant misled investigators about the existence of complaint files related to a $1,435.65 cancellation fee. Telus initially denied any records, then said the volume of files made a thorough search impractical, offering to examine 200 files manually. The regulator’s inspector, Jason McColl, expanded the inquiry, demanding all records of consumer cancellation requests and penalty payments, which Telus argued were not required under federal telecom rules.

CPBC concluded Telus’s statements were demonstrably false, imposing $19,000 in fines and $22,000 for the inspection, plus a compliance order. Telus has filed for a judicial review, calling the sanctions “incorrect” and “unreasonable.” The case highlights tension between provincial consumer protection powers and federal telecom regulation.