Access to essential services necessary for the health, wellbeing and social participation of whānau in Aotearoa should be guaranteed.

An effective mechanism is needed for accessing a fair outcome where relevant telecommunications services would instead put a whānau at risk of hardship.

FinCap welcomes the opportunity to comment on the Telecommunications Dispute Resolution Limited (TDRL) Overview, TDRL Constitution, TDRL Terms of Reference and Telecommunications Forum (TCF) Customer Care Code as part of the Telecommunications Dispute Resolution Scheme Public Consultation.

Financial mentors too often report issues with contacting whānau they are helping due to insufficient funds to keep phones connected, harmful debt collection originating from telco debt or irresponsible lending towards accessing a mobile phone.

Submission on the Review of the Telecommunications Dispute Resolution Scheme Public Consultation