Disability

The TIO receives complaints from or on behalf of disadvantaged and vulnerable consumers. Consumer disadvantage and vulnerability can be a factor in various types of complaints.

Under the disability category, the TIO records issues about the adequacy or the billing of telecommunications equipment to accommodate a person’s disability and also about the Priority Assistance service.

Priority Assistance is designed to help people with diagnosed life-threatening medical conditions who depend on a reliable, home telephone service to be able to call for assistance when needed. This means that priority assistance customers are entitled to faster connection and fault repair of their telephone service and a greater level of reliability.

In 2008/09, disability complaint issues increased by 90.8%. Overall, disability complaint issues represented 0.1% of all TIO complaint issues.

Disability issues by category

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