The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday reduced the fine handed to Chunghwa Telecom (中華電信) from NT$2 million to NT$1.2 million (US$64,185 to US$38,511) for causing a consumer frenzy by offering a cheap service package without sufficient preparation in May last year.
The change came after the Taipei High Administrative Court ruled in favor of the telecom in an appeal in May.
The commission was also asked to rescind its previous punishment and issue a new verdict, according to the court’s ruling.
Photo courtesy of a member of the public
The commission decided not to appeal the ruling, acting spokesperson Hsiao Chi-hung (蕭祈宏) said.
“The commission had cited labor rights contraventions as a reason for penalizing the telecom, but the court said that local labor officials had already fined it for such reasons,” Hsiao said. “The court found that the commission’s verdict was flawed, as it did not need to impose a fine for the same contravention.”
The commission yesterday ruled that Chunghwa Telecom had contravened Article 73 of the Regulations for Administration of Mobile Broadband Businesses (行動寬頻業務管理規則) by failing to thoroughly plan before offering a NT$499 per month service, making it difficult for customers to promptly access the customer service hotline and employees at retail stores, Hsiao said.
As such, the telecom was fined NT$1.2 million based on the Telecommunications Act (電信法), down from the previous fine of NT$2 million, he added.
Taiwan Mobile and Far Eastern Telecommunications were also fined NT$600,000 each for the chaos caused by offering their own NT$499 plans, but only Chunghwa Telecom appealed its ruling, Hsiao said.
In other developments, the CtiTV news channel (中天新聞台) has been fined NT$600,000 for broadcasting content that might impair the mental and physical health of a child, the commission said.
The station on April 2 broadcast a story in its morning news segment about a young fan of Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) who cried when watching a video showing former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) scolding Han and warning people about the consequences of electing him as president, commission officials said.
The child was less than 10 years old, they said.
The commission said that it had received complaints from viewers, who accused the station of using the child to highlight a certain politician.
It handed the case to an independent content review committee formed by experts unaffiliated with the commission, it said.
Eight of the 10 experts voted that CtiTV had contravened Article 27, Section 3, Item 2 of the Satellite Broadcasting Act (衛星廣播電視法), and the NCC commissioners unanimously agreed, it added.
As children do not yet have the ability to process such information, they should not be made to identify with a specific politician, Department of Broadcasting and Content specialist Chen Shu-ming (陳書銘) cited the committee as saying.
Even though the station gained consent from the child’s parents, CtiTV still needed to pixelate the video and change the child’s voice before broadcasting the footage to avert any potential negative effects on the child’s development, he said.
Asked if TV news stations are forbidden to air images of minors, Chen said that content review committee members would decide on a case-by-case basis.
CtiTV may appeal the verdict in the administrative court, he added.
Before yesterday, CtiTV had so far this year already accumulated more than NT$3.3 million in fines, the commission said.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from