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Chunghwa Telecom to return customers' security deposits

Chunghwa Telecom Co will return long-withheld security deposits to mobile-phone users, senior officials at the company said.

"By the end of this year and early next year at the latest, we will contact users about the return of the security deposits they paid in order to start an account," said Chang Feng-hsiung (張豐雄), senior vice president of Chunghwa Telecom.

According to Chunghwa officials, 1.7 million users will each receive NT$2,900 in security deposits.

Eligible users will be contacted by the company.

"We do not require a security deposit anymore, so these policies will affect customers who created accounts before 2000," Chang said.

Chunghwa Telecom's decision comes after the Consumers' Foundation accused mobile-phone service providers of deliberately making it difficult for users to recover the deposits.

Taiwan Solidarity Union Legislator Liao Ben-yen (廖本煙) also charged that Chunghwa Telecom had accumulated NT$5 billion in unreturned security deposits.

Chang denied the allegations, stating that, as a state-run enterprise, Chunghwa Telecom's finances were under close governmental scrutiny. Nevertheless, Chang has promised that all security deposits will be returned as soon as possible after they had been claimed.

"We are currently working on a method to return the deposits," Chang said.

Chunghwa Telecom also met with the Directorate General of Telecommunications at the Ministry of Transportation and Communications to discuss the issue yesterday, government officials said.

The ministry said it is planning policy changes regarding security deposits and their total administration.

"We've met with almost all of the telecom companies outside of Taiwan Cellular and Chunghwa Telecom, and initial plans have tentatively been set.

The companies we met with have agreed to notify users that their contracts will expire one month in advance. If the user decides to extend the phone service, then the security deposit will be returned within 30 days," a ministry official said.

Previously, the amount of time needed to get a deposit returned ranged from Taiwan Cellular's 15 days to TransAsia Telecommunications' six months.

For users who choose to terminate their mobile phone service, the return period on the deposit is 45 days.
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