“Unlimited” Meets its Limit, as Rogers Ordered to Pay $15 million

28 Oct “Unlimited” Meets its Limit, as Rogers Ordered to Pay $15 million

Harris + co.

Rogers Communication Inc. has been ordered to pay a $15 million administrative monetary penalty, costs and publish a corrective notice. The Competition Tribunal held that Rogers made misleading advertising claims that its mobile data plans were “unlimited” or “infinite”, and that these claims were deceptive since Rogers significantly reduced speeds once customers used a finite allotment of high-speed data.

Rogers denied making false or misleading representations and argued that its plans benefited consumers and competition. It also raised a constitutional challenge to the new administrative monetary penalty provision, which the Tribunal dismissed. Full reasons remain confidential, with a redacted public version expected within 10 business days.

The forthcoming public reasons will be key to understanding the Tribunal’s treatment of “unlimited” claims and its rejection of Rogers’ constitutional challenge. Until then, businesses should take this outcome as a prompt to review whether main advertising claims accurately reflect practical limits on products.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.