Far EasTone Telecommunications (FET) and Taiwan Star might have overcharged subscribers who bought telecom services and high-end smartphones due to early termination of telecom contracts, the Consumers’ Foundation has said.
The foundation from July 10 to 21 studied plans offered by the nation’s five telecoms coupling telecom services with a purchase of an iPhone XS Max 256GB smartphone, for which subscribers are required to sign a 30-month contract and pay NT$999 per month for unlimited data.
In return, subscribers receive discounts on the telecom service fee and the smartphone’s price, it said.
FET clients who want to end their contract after 15 months are required to pay a penalty fee of NT$9,750, it said.
Penalty fees implemented by Taiwan Star, Taiwan Mobile, Asia-Pacific Telecom and Chunghwa Telecom are NT$8,875, NT$7,125, NT$7,000 and NT$4,800, respectively, it added.
FET and Taiwan Star charge higher penalty fees than their competitors, the foundation said, adding that FET also contravened the regulations governing broadband businesses by charging consumers for the remaining months on the contract, instead of days.
FET could face a fine of NT$100,000 to NT$500,000 according to the Telecommunications Act (電信法), the foundation said, adding that the National Communications Commission (NCC) should look into the services offered by the two telecoms.
Japan has capped the penalty fee to about NT$280 if a contract does not include the purchase of a smartphone and NT$5,700 if it does, and Taiwan should consider following suit, the foundation said.
NCC Platform and Business Department Acting Director Tsai Kuo-tung (蔡國棟) said the commission is looking into the allegations.
Penalty fees for early termination should be calculated by multiplying the number of days left on the contract by the daily penalty fee, Tsai said, adding that the fundamental principle remains unchanged.
Consumers in general subscribe to a telecom service from a carrier and do not have to purchase smartphones from it, although they are likely to purchase devices that way, he said.
Telecoms offer discounts on high-priced smartphones on the condition that consumers sign a contract and agree to pay heavier penalty fees for early termination, Tsai said.
Asked if the study’s findings are valid, as the foundation only examined one service plan coupled with a specific smartphone, Tsai said that telecoms tend to have different target users in mind when they launch promotions for different smartphones.
Telecoms tend to offer larger discounts for a smartphone if it helps them reach their target users and smaller discounts for smartphones that are not their focus products, he said.
It would be better to examine penalty fees for other service plans and compare the telecoms’ policies, he added.
FET said it charges penalty fees based on the number of days left on a contract instead of months, adding that the contract clearly states the terms governing penalty fees.
In the case provided by the foundation, a consumer would have to pay NT$7,875, not NT$9,750, it added.
Taiwan Star said its discounts for service plans combining telecom services with mobile phones are better than those of other telecoms, adding that it set its penalty after calculating operational risks and other factors.
TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT: A US Air Force KC-135 tanker came less than 1,000 feet of an EVA plane and was warned off by a Taipei air traffic controller, a report said A US aerial refueling aircraft came very close to an EVA Airways jet in the airspace over southern Taiwan, a military aviation news Web site said. A report published by Alert 5 on Tuesday said that automatic dependent surveillance–broadcast (ADS-B) data captured by planfinder.net on Wednesday last week showed a US Air Force KC-135 tanker “coming less than 1,000 feet [305m] vertically with EVA Air flight BR225 as both aircraft crossed path south of Taiwan” that morning. The report included an audio recording of a female controller from the Taipei air traffic control center telling the unidentified aircraft that it was
A US aircraft carrier group led by the USS Theodore Roosevelt has entered the South China Sea to promote “freedom of the seas,” the US military said yesterday, as tensions between China and Taiwan raise concerns in Washington. US Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement that the strike group entered the South China Sea on Saturday, the same day Taiwan reported a large incursion of Chinese bombers and fighter jets into its air defense identification zone near the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). The US military said the carrier strike group was in the South China Sea, a large part of which
STRATEGIC MISTAKE: Beijing’s deployment of aircraft near Taiwan proves the ‘China threat theory’ that sees it attempting to destabilize the region, an analyst said China on Saturday and yesterday sent a record number of military aircraft into the nation’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ), in what analysts said was an attempt to flex its military might for US President Joe Biden. Thirteen Chinese warplanes flew into Taiwan’s southwestern ADIZ on Saturday and 15 entered yesterday, the highest number observed in a single day this year, the Ministry of National Defense said. On Saturday, eight Xian H-6K bombers, four Shenyang J-16 fighters and a Y-8 anti-submarine aircraft, entered the ADIZ, while yesterday there were two Y-8s, two Su-30s, four J-16s, six J-10 fighters and a Y-8 reconnaissance
DISPOSING MYTHS: A new constitution would better reflect reality, as the current one was drafted ‘in and for China,’ without the consent of Taiwanese, advocates said Independence advocates yesterday launched the Taiwan New Constitution Alliance to promote drafting a new, localized constitution. “This is a historic moment for Taiwan. Drafting a new constitution is the most important task Taiwanese face,” veteran independence advocate Koo Kwang-ming (辜寬敏) said at the inaugural event in Taipei. “Although the Democratic Progressive Party is in power, its authority is based on the Republic of China [ROC] Constitution, which has no connection to Taiwan,” said the 95-year-old Koo, a former presidential adviser. “The historic task of drafting a new constitution depends on efforts by all Taiwanese,” Koo said. “A constitution for a sovereign, independent Taiwan
RSS