Triple-0 help call rejected by ACCC

The competition watchdog is refusing to use its product recall power to alert hundreds of thousands of Australians that their mobile phone might not be able to call triple-0 when 3G is turned off this year, despite appeals from the big telcos.

Telstra, Optus and TPG have met with an Australian Competition & Consumer Commission, asking to use its recall powers to assist with a public awareness campaign to inform people if they can still call emergency services on their phones.

About 740,000 handsets are expected to be affected, including some older 4G phones and grey market imports – which aren’t approved by the telcos. TPG began switching its 3G network off last December, with Telstra set to follow in June and Optus in September.

The ACCC has rejected the telcos’ pleas because the 3G shutdown technically sits outside its recall powers, which are normally activated if a product is dangerous – a move that may delay the switch from 3G to 4G.

“The affected mobile handsets do not have a characteristic that is likely to cause injury,” an ACCC spokeswoman said.

But the telcos argued that the affected devices were likely to exacerbate an injury or worsen someone’s health condition if they could not use their phone to call an ambulance, fire service or police.

The ACCC, has however, taken a firm stance – taking a literal interpretation of its recall powers.

“The affected mobile handsets may not be able to be used for emergency calls in the event of an injury, but they are not the cause of the injury,” the spokeswoman said.

“Suppliers can choose to undertake a voluntary product recall under the Australian Consumer Law recalls provisions if they consider a recall of a product they are supplying is necessary.”

But given some consumers have bought grey market devices – which come from overseas and are not sold by the carriers or the manufacturer’s local sales channels – issuing a supplier voluntary recall is tricky.