The Legislative Yuan today passed amendments to the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法) aimed at reducing telecom fraud.
The new amendments require second-level Internet access service providers and mobile virtual network operators to register as official telecommunications businesses.
Within one year of the new regulations going into effect, entities that fail to register would face fines of between NT$100,000 and NT$1 million (US$3,386 and US$33,858) and be given a deadline to comply.
Photo: Fang Wei-chieh, Taipei Times
Failure to meet the deadline would result in repeated fines.
The legislation affects businesses that provide users Internet access, as well as those that lease or purchase phone numbers and networks to then sell their own services to users.
The amendments are necessary because the Telecommunications Act (電信法) was in 2020 replaced by the Telecommunications Management Act, which did not have the same regulations, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Huang Chien-hao (黃健豪) said.
The former act had regulations in place that covered Type II businesses, which are administered by the National Communications Commission, while such regulations were removed from the current act, Huang said.
The goal was to encourage more innovative business models in Type II telecommunications and to develop a wider range of services to stimulate economic activity, but instead, the relaxed regulations allowed fraudsters to exploit loopholes in the system, he said.
Since the repeal of the original law in 2020, the number of fraud cases investigated by prosecutors has risen dramatically, Huang said.
In 2021, there were 98,256 cases of telecom fraud, with the number increasing to 160,803 in 2022, 229,711 in 2023 and 167,932 last year, he said.
The new amendments are a way to reduce fraud using Type II services and telecom fraud more generally, he added.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19
RSS