The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that it would work with the Ministry of Economic Affairs to consider whether to fine e-commerce platforms that sell uncertified wireless and Bluetooth devices.
The Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) yesterday reported that Taobao Taiwan — which launched in Taiwan last month — was found to be selling devices that do not carry NCC-issued certification codes on its platform.
Manufacturers must obtain the certification codes before they can sell their products in Taiwan, the newspaper said.
The commission has talked to Taobao Taiwan’s management to let them know they should ensure that only legal wireless devices are sold on their platform, NCC acting spokesman Hsiao Chi-hung (蕭祈宏) said.
Taobao is obliged to check if devices sold on its platform have certification codes or if the codes provided by sellers match the ones provided by the NCC, Hsiao said.
E-commerce platforms cannot sell uncertified radio frequency identification devices or those containing fake certification codes, he said.
Given that the Hangzhou, China-based company just opened its Taiwanese platform, it might not be as thorough as other e-commerce operators in checking products on its platform, Hsiao said, adding that the company has promised to address the problem.
Hsiao added that the ministry regulates e-commerce operators, and the commission would talk with the ministry about how it should handle e-commerce operators who fail to abide by the law.
The commission might consider revising regulations to hold e-commerce operators accountable, he said.
Although the commission’s regulations are designed to punish sellers of uncertified products on the platform, most of the sellers are individuals, making it more difficult for the commission to crack down on uncertified products, he said, adding that punishments meted out to individuals would be disproportionate to the offenses as well.
In other developments, Huawei Inc’s local distributor, Xunwei Technologies Co, is conducting system tests, using over-the-air programming to update encryption keys for mobile devices.
The commission last week notified the nation’s five major telecoms and Xunwei that they should suspend sales of Huawei’s P30, P30 Pro and Nova 5T smartphones after they were found to refer to the nation as “Taiwan, China,” rather than “Taiwan,” in the caller’s location and warranty areas since a system update.
The commission also told them that the ban would not be lifted until the problem is resolved, and that certifications for these three smartphones would be revoked if the problem persists.
Xunwei has said that it would comply with the government’s regulations.
Asked if the commission would impose an additional fine on the manufacturer for changing the setting after securing certification, the commission said the temporary ban is already a heavy punishment.
Should the infringement recur after the system update, the commission would revoke the certifications of the smartphones, which means that these products would no longer be sold in Taiwan, unless the manufacturer reapplies for certification, it said.
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