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An Ontario judge has ruled that Bell Canada Inc. has improperly collected millions each year from satellite television customers who are late paying their monthly bills.
The Ontario Superior Court of Justice sided with a class action suit that claimed a $25 “administrative” fee charged to Bell ExpressVu customers who were more than two months late paying their bills amounted to a criminal rate of interest.
The law in question prohibits annual interest rates in excess of 60 per cent and was originally intended to target loan sharks.
“This goes beyond Bell,” said Paul DeWolf, the suit’s representative plaintiff, yesterday. “If this ruling holds, a lot of companies are going to have to reassess their positions.”
The class action was launched on behalf of current and former ExpressVu customers that have paid the late charge. The satellite TV service has about 1.7 million subscribers in total, roughly 33,000 of which are charged the administration fee every month, according to court documents.
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