Many people have been surprised after finding that most mobile service providers charge a fee for calling the 165 anti-fraud hotline, with some saying they consider the fee fraudulent in itself.
People can call the 165 anti-fraud hotline from their cellphone or land line to report suspected fraudulent phone calls to the police. The central government launched a massive campaign to advertise the hotline.
However, what most people don’t know is that they may be charged a fee of around NT$3 per minute when they dial the 165 hotline if they make the call from their cellphones.
“I thought it would be free because it’s a service provided by the government to the people, and we already pay taxes to the government,” said Chien Ling-yuan (簡玲媛), a company manager. “It’s the government’s job to protect us from crimes. Why should we pay extra money when we report a case to the police?”
“Charging the fee is like a government-endorsed fraud,” she added.
Another woman living in Taipei County, Chu Ya-yu (朱雅玉) expressed a similar view.
Chu said that though she wasn’t sure if the 165 hotline is toll-free, she would naturally think that all government service hotlines are toll-free unless otherwise stated.
“The government repeatedly advertises the hotline, but never told us there’s a charge — isn’t this a fraud and an attempt to benefit mobile service providers?” she said.
Meanwhile, a 28-year-old man living in Taipei City, Yeh Yun-yin (葉雲印), also thought that the 165 hotline should be completely free of charge, because “when we report a case to the police, we’re doing our part to prevent others from becoming victims.”
Although Chunghwa Telecom is the only mobile service provider that does not charge for calls to the 165 hotline, its spokesman Shih Mu-piao (石木標) told the Taipei Times that most mobile service providers charge callers because 165 calls also take up network resources.
“From a business point of view, you can’t really say it’s wrong for businesses to charge the users,” Shih said.
He said some numbers such as the 110 police hotline and the 119 fire department hotline are toll-free because all mobile service providers agreed that they should not charge for life-saving hotlines.
Shih said Chunghwa Telecom makes 165 toll-free because the company considers it a way to fulfill its corporate social responsibility.
“Some other numbers, like Taipei and Kaohsiung City Governments’ 1999 service number, are toll-free because the city governments pay for them,” he said. “It looks like the only way to make the 165 hotline completely free of charge is to have the government pay for it.”
Asked about the charge, Criminal Investigation Bureau director-general Frank Chiu (邱豐光) said the National Police Agency had no plan to extend its budgets to cover the 165 hotline phone calls, but it is trying to negotiate with other mobile service providers to make the hotline toll-free for everyone.
“I’d say the negotiation is not easy, but we’re trying,” he said.
RESOLUTIONS DEBATE: Taiwan’s allies said that UN and WHA resolutions cited by China and other nations ‘do not determine Taiwan’s participation in WHO activities’ A proposal to invite Taiwan to this year’s World Health Assembly (WHA) was rejected on Monday, resulting in Taipei’s absence from the annual meeting for a ninth consecutive year, although partners spoke up for Taiwan’s participation at the first day of the meeting. The first agenda item after the opening was a “two-on-two debate” on a proposal to invite Taiwan to participate at the WHA as an observer. Similar to previous years, two countries made statements in favor of the proposal, while two others expressed their opposition. Philippine Secretary of Health Teodoro Herbosa, president of the 78th WHA, accepted the WHA General Committee’s
Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr arrived in Taiwan last night to kick off his first visit to the country since beginning his second term earlier this year. After arriving at Taoyuan International Airport at around 6:30 pm, Whipps and his delegation were welcomed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍). Speaking to gathered media, the Palauan leader said he was excited and honored to be back in Taiwan on his first state visit to Taiwan since he was sworn in this January. Among those traveling with Whipps is Minister of State Gustav N. Aitaro, Public Infrastructure
Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) on Friday laid out the Cabinet’s updated policy agenda and recapped the government’s achievements ahead of the one-year anniversary of President William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration. Cho said the government had made progress across a range of areas, including rebuilding Hualien, cracking down on fraud, improving pedestrian safety and promoting economic growth. “I hope the public will not have the impression that the Cabinet only asked the legislature to reconsider a bunch of legal amendments,” Cho said, calling the moves “necessary” to protect constitutional governance and the public’s interest. The Cabinet would work toward achieving its “1+7” plan, he said. The
Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) hosted a dinner in Taipei last night with key Taiwanese suppliers to celebrate the successful mass production of the company’s new Blackwell AI systems. Speaking to the media earlier yesterday, Huang thanked Nvidia’s Taiwanese partners for their contributions to the company’s ecosystem, while also sharing his plans to meet with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) founder Morris Chang (張忠謀). In response to rumors that Nvidia will launch a downgraded Hopper H20 chip for China in July, Huang dismissed the reports, saying, “That is not true.” He clarified that there
RSS