Payphones

The TIO can investigate complaints about the performance of public payphones, including complaints about incorrect charging and faults. However, the TIO cannot investigate complaints about the location of payphones. Complaints about the location of payphones are usually referred to the Australian Communications & Media Authority.

The TIO has in the past investigated complaints about private payphones (like complaints about provisioning, billing and faults) by the owner of the phone against the carriage service provider. It is arguable, though, that these complaints lie outside the TIO's jurisdiction as the owner of the payphone is not the end-user of the service.

However, the TIO's constitution [S 3.2 (a)] states that "Complaints may be made to the TIO by end-users of carriage services and by persons directly affected by the provision or supply of (or the failure to provide or supply such services by scheme members)." It is therefore arguable that the TIO does have jurisdiction to investigate complaints by the owners of payphones on the basis that they are directly affected by the provision, fault, billing, etc. The TIO considers its jurisdiction over such complaints on a case-by-case basis.

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