GAZETTE EXTRAORDINARY OF THE DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF SRI LANKA 29.03.1999.2
		Reasons for Order re Payment of Bills
		One of the results of problems in the periodicity of billing is the non inclusion of payments in the subsequent bill. In some cases, this has led to penal action by the operator and caused considerable pain of mind and inconvenience to subscribers. The Committee believes that greater co ordination between banks and operators who are large and important customers of the banks is possible. The onus must be on the operators to ensure that payments are promptly credited. The order will create the proper incentives for the operators to improve their processes and create safeguards against harm being caused to innocent subscribers.
	6.0	Confidentiality of Billing Information
	6.1	The Committe of Inquiry orders all fixed access operators to adhere to the provisions of their respective licence conditions re confidentiality of customer information. The following directions must be read in conjunction with the licence condition
	6.1.1.	The Operators who have not yet submitted draft codes of practice to the Commission are ordered to do so by May 31, 1999.
	6.1.2	Upon the Commission approving the code of practice, the operator shall prepare a manual on the confidentiality of, Customer information, which shall be submitted to the Commission for information. The operator shall establish a schedule of training workshops to educate its employees about the procedures set out in the manual. The Commission shall be informed of such workshops and be invited to send observers. Each operator shall hold at least one workshop before 31st December, 1999.
	6.1.3	Each operator shall minimize the number of employees having access to billing information that is individually identifiable. A list shall be maintained of all such employees and each of these employees shall attend a training workshop on the subject and sign a confidentiality agreement covering all individually identifiable customer information.
	6.1.4	Each operator shall issue some kind of password or establish a mechanism (e.g., mother's middle name) to ensure that no one other than the subscriber can gain access to billing and other customer information. This mechanism shall be set in place for inquiries in person, via letter, or over the telephone, in the event Internet access is introduced, via Internet.
	6.1.5	All bills shall be transmitted to subscribers in sealed, non transparent envelopes without the telephone number being displayed on the outside of the envelope. The safeguard specified in 6.1.4 above must be activated in the case of a request for a copy of a bill.
	6.2	Reasons for Order on Confidentiality of Billing Information confidentiality issues were raised before the Committee through written and in oral evidence. The licences of the fixed access operators contain specific conditions regarding confidentiality of customer information (Condition 26 for SLTL and Condition 24 for Suntel and Lanka Bell). With the exception of Lanka Bell, this condition has been observed in the breach. With the introduction of itemized billing by SLTL (which has almost 90% of the fixed access market), the importance of safeguarding the confidentiality of customer information increases by an order of magnitude. The pattern of interactions recorded through itemized bills can yield sensitive information. What the Order seeks to do is to provide a more detailed procedure for implementing the licence conditions in a manner that addresses the public interest.
	7.0	Home Metering
	7.1	The Committee of Inquiry makes no order on the issue of home metering, considering the introduction of itemized billing to address more effectively the concerns sought to be addressed by this remedy.