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Cellular Telephone Contracts Regulations
made under Section 25AO of the
Consumer Protection Act
R.S.N.S. 1989, c. 92
O.I.C. 2013-44 (February 15, 2013, effective May 1, 2013), N.S. Reg. 36/2013
as amended by O.I.C. 2013-78 (March 26, 2013, effective May 1, 2013), N.S. Reg. 59/2013
Note: Effective June 3, 2015, these regulations are repealed by N.S. Reg. 231/2015.
Interpretation
Citation
1 These regulations may be cited as the Cellular Telephone Contracts Regulations.
Definitions
2 (1) In these regulations,
“Act” means the Consumer Protection Act.
(2) In the Act and these regulations,
“contract not made in person” means a contract made at a time when the customer is not in the presence of any of the following:
(i) the supplier,
(ii) an employee or agent of the supplier,
(iii) any person who is authorized by the supplier to act on behalf of the supplier, or who appears to be so authorized.
Electronic Documents
Format of electronic documents
3 A supplier must ensure that any document or information given or made available to a customer under Sections 25K to 25AO of the Act or these regulations is, if given or made available electronically, in a format that allows a typical customer to readily do all of the following:
(a) open, read and save the document or information; and
(b) print a copy of the document or information.
Contracts Not Made in Person
Information that supplier must give to prospective customer
4 Before a contract not made in person is entered into, a supplier must, at no additional cost to the prospective customer,
(a) give or make available to the prospective customer
(i) the information required to be set out in the contract under clauses 25P(1)(a) to (r) of the Act, and
(ii) in the case of a contract made over the Internet, copies of all documents that comprise the contract; and
(b) give the prospective customer a reasonable opportunity to review the information provided under clause (a) and to ask and receive answers to any questions the customer may have, before requesting that the customer enter into the contract.
Copy of contract to be given to customer after contract is made
5 In the case of a contract not made in person, a supplier must give or make available to a customer, at no additional cost to the customer, copies of all documents that comprise the contract within 15 days after a contract not made in person is entered into.
When no cancellation fee can be charged
6 (1) In the case of a contract not made in person in which a cellular telephone was provided by the supplier to the customer for free or by sale at a reduced cost, Sections 25AC and 25AD of the Act do not apply, and a supplier must not charge any cancellation fee, if all of the following conditions are met:
(a) the supplier fails to satisfy the requirements of Sections 4 or 5;
(b) the customer cancels the contract within 30 days after entering into the contract; and
(c) the customer returns the cellular telephone to the supplier in substantially the same condition in which it was received by the customer.
(2) In the case of a contract not made in person in which a cellular telephone was not provided by the supplier to the customer for free or by sale at a reduced cost, Sections 25AC and 25AD of the Act do not apply, and a supplier must not charge any cancellation fee, if all of the following conditions are met:
(a) the supplier fails to satisfy the requirements of Sections 4 or 5; and
(b) the customer cancels the contract within 30 days after entering into the contract.
(3) A supplier must accept the return of a cellular telephone in circumstances described in clause (1)(c) if the cellular telephone is in substantially the same condition in which it was received by the customer.
Supplier cannot accept returned cellular telephone and charge cancellation fee
7 For greater certainty, a supplier must not do both of the following:
(a) accept the return of a cellular telephone in circumstances described in clause 6(1)(c); and
(b) charge a cancellation fee.
Cancellation Fees
Cancellation fee—fixed term contract with cellular telephone provided
8 For greater certainty, the maximum amount of the cancellation fee that a supplier may charge under subsection 25AC(2) of the Act is to be determined by the following formula:
Amount = S - (S x E/T)
in which,
S is the amount stated in the contract under clause 25P(1)(o) of the Act;
E is the length of time that has elapsed since the contract began, expressed in months;
T is the length of the contract’s term, expressed in months.
Cancellation fee—indeterminate contract with cellular telephone provided
9 (1) The maximum amount of the cancellation fee that a supplier may charge under subsection 25AD(2) of the Act is to be determined by the following formula:
Amount = S - (S x E/48)
in which
S is the amount stated in the contract under clause 25P(1)(o) of the Act;
E is the length of time that has elapsed since the contract began, expressed in months.
(2) If the calculation of the amount in subsection (1) results in a negative value, the amount is deemed to be zero.
Partial month deemed to be entire month
10 For the purpose of calculating the amount of a cancellation fee under the Act or these regulations, in determining the length of time that has elapsed since the contract began, a month that has partially elapsed at the time of cancellation is deemed to be a month completely elapsed.
Records
Records must be complete and accurate
11 (1) A supplier must make and maintain complete and accurate records of each contract into which it enters, including the following:
(a) a complete copy of the contract entered into by the customer, including copies of all documents that comprise the contract;
(b) proof that the customer agreed to enter into the contract, whether by the customer’s signature or otherwise.
(2) Despite clause (1)(a), if a contract includes a document setting out standard terms or conditions that apply to the contract, the supplier is not required to retain a separate copy of that document for the particular contract, if
(a) the document is dated or numbered in a manner that allows the customer and the supplier to readily identify the version of the document that was included in the particular contract; and
(b) the supplier retains a master copy of the document, dated or numbered as described in clause (a), for the period described in Section 12.
(3) For greater certainty, subsection (2) does not apply to a document containing anything unique or specific to the particular contract, including, without limitation,
(a) signatures, initials or any other handwritten markings; or
(b) annotations or other markings indicating an amendment of a standard term or condition, or of any other term or condition of the contract.
Length of time records must be kept
12 A supplier must retain a record referred to in Section 11 for at least 3 years after the date that the contract expires or is terminated or cancelled.
Contract Requirements
Description of optional services
13 For the purpose of clause 25P(l)[(1)](i) of the Act, the description of optional services must include all of the following:
(a) for each optional service that the customer agrees to subscribe to at the time the contract is entered into
(i) a description of the optional service,
(ii) an explanation of how the cost of the optional service will be calculated, and
(iii) a description of any restrictions on the optional service that will result in an increase in cost to the customer for the use of the optional service;
(b) the manner in which the customer can obtain further details on the optional services subscribed to and the costs and restrictions of those services;
(c) the manner in which the customer can obtain details on any optional services in addition to the ones subscribed to and the costs and restrictions of those services.
Description of warranty
14 For the purpose of clause 25P(l)[(1)](p) of the Act, the description of any manufacturer’s warranty or other warranty must include a description of the manner in which the customer can obtain details of all of the following:
(a) what is covered under the manufacturer’s warranty or other warranty;
(b) the duration of the manufacturer’s warranty or other warranty;
(c) how the customer can make a claim under the manufacturer’s warranty or other warranty.
Educational Materials
Educational materials to be provided to customer
15 (1) The educational materials provided by a supplier to each customer under subsection 25N(4) of the Act must be the educational materials developed by the Province.
(2) A copy of the required educational materials may be obtained from the Registrar of Credit.
Section 15 added: O.I.C. 2013-78, N.S. Reg. 59/2013.