STATUTORY RULES.
1963. No. 132.
REGULATIONS UNDER THE POST AND TELEGRAPH ACT 1901-1961.*
I, THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL in and over the Commonwealth of Australia, acting with the advice of the Federal Executive Council, hereby make the following Regulations under the Post and Telegraph Act 1901-1961.
Dated this Sixth
day of September , 1963.
DE L’ISLE
Governor-General.
By His Excellency’s Command,
C.W. Davidson
Postmaster-General.
Amendments of the Telephone Regulations. †
Fee for local call.
1. Regulation 117b of the Telephone Regulations is amended by omitting the words “a fee equal to the local-call fee” and inserting in their stead the word “Sixpence”.
Limitation of period of conversation.
2. Regulation 118 of the Telephone Regulations is amended by omitting the words “equal to the local-call fee” and inserting in their stead the words “of Sixpence”.
Charges by subscribers.
3. Regulation 127 of the Telephone Regulations is amended by omitting the word “Fivepence” and inserting in its stead the word “Sixpence”.
Charges for trunk line calls.
4.—(1.) Regulation 138 of the Telephone Regulations is amended by inserting after the word “call” (first occurring) in sub-regulation (1.) the words “from the telephone of a subscriber that is not fitted with a Departmental coin attachment”.
(2.) Regulation 138 of the Telephone Regulations is amended by inserting after sub-regulation (1.) the following sub-regulation:—
“(2.) Subject to this Part, the fee payable for an effective trunk call made from a public telephone or from a subscriber’s telephone that is fitted
* Notified in the Commonwealth Gazette on 12th December, 1963.
† Statutory Rules 1927, No. 145, as amended to date. For previous amendments of the Telephone Regulations see Footnote † to Statutory Rules 1963, No. 7, and see also Statutory Rules 1963, Nos. 7, 30, 49, 68 and 96.
10240/63.—Price 3d. 10/24.10.1963.
with a Departmental coin attachment is the fee ascertained for that call by reference to the following table:—
Trunk distance in relation to the trunk call. | Each three minutes or part of three minutes. |
Between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. | Between 6 p.m. and 9 a.m. |
| s. | d. | s. | d. |
Not exceeding 25 miles ........................... | 1 | 6 | 1 | 0 |
Exceeding 25 bat not 30 miles....................... | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Exceeding 30 but not 50 miles ...................... | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
Exceeding 50 but not 100 miles ..................... | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
Exceeding 100 but not 200 miles .................... | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
Exceeding 200 but not 300 miles .................... | 10 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
Exceeding 300 but not 400 miles .................... | 12 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
Exceeding 400 miles ............................ | 15 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
Cancellation of trunk calls.
5. Regulation 144 of the Telephone Regulations is repealed.
Application of amendments.
6. The Telephone Regulations as in force immediately before the commencement of these Regulations continue to apply to local calls if the operation of the telephone from which the call is made is dependent upon the insertion of pennies into the telephone instrument or a Departmental coin attachment fitted to the telephone.
By Authority: A. J. Arthur, Commonwealth Government Printer, Canberra.
Overview
The Statutory Rules 1963 No. 132, which are Regulations made under the Post and Telegraph Act 1901-1961, were enacted to amend the existing telephone regulations. The Post and Telegraph Act 1901-1961 provides the framework for the regulation of postal and telecommunications services in Australia, and these regulations were introduced to update and refine certain aspects of telephone services. The Governor-General, acting with the advice of the Federal Executive Council, made these regulations on the sixth day of September 1963. The primary objective of these amendments is to adjust fees and operational regulations for telephone services, including the standardisation of fees for local calls, limitation of conversation periods, and re-establishment of charges for trunk line calls.
Scope and Application
The Statutory Rules 1963, No. 132, which amends the Telephone Regulations under the Post and Telegraph Act 1901-1961, applies to the regulation of telephone services across the Commonwealth of Australia. The regulations primarily concern the fees for local and trunk calls, specifying the charges for these services and introducing a standardised fee for local calls while altering the fee structure for trunk calls based on distance and time of day. The amendments also include changes to the chargeable periods for trunk calls and the introduction of a fee table for trunk calls made from public telephones or subscriber telephones fitted with a Departmental coin attachment. These regulations are applicable to both public and private telephone services, affecting all entities and individuals who make use of the telephone services within Australia. The scope of the amendments is comprehensive, encompassing the entire telecommunications infrastructure and service provision, thereby ensuring uniformity in fees and the operational standards of telephone services across the nation.
Key Provisions
The statutory rules introduced by Statutory Rules 1963, No. 132, make several amendments to the existing Telephone Regulations under the Post and Telegraph Act 1901-1961. The amendments primarily concern the fees for local and trunk calls, as well as the charges imposed on subscribers. Regulation 117b is amended to change the fee for local calls to Sixpence (section 1). Regulation 118 is similarly amended to reflect the new fee for local calls (section 2). Regulation 127 is updated to replace the previous Fivepence fee with Sixpence for charges by subscribers (section 3).
The new regulations impose specific obligations on parties involved in making telephone calls. For instance, subscribers making trunk calls must now pay Sixpence for each call, unless their telephone is fitted with a Departmental coin attachment (section 4(1)). Additionally, the fee for trunk calls now varies based on the distance of the call and the time of day, with a detailed table provided for reference (section 4(2)). The amendments also remove the provision for cancelling trunk calls, which was previously outlined in Regulation 144 (section 5).
The statutory rules establish clear consequences for non-compliance with the new fees and regulations. While the document does not explicitly outline penalties for breaches, it is reasonable to infer that failure to adhere to the new fee structures and regulations could result in financial penalties or other administrative actions under the Post and Telegraph Act 1901-1961. The exact nature and extent of these penalties would be determined in accordance with the overarching legislation.