The government has begun drafting a code of practice for mobile network operators to safeguard people from misleading pay text messages that can hit them hard in the pocket.
Marion Lai Chan Chi-kuen, director-general of telecommunications, met representatives of five mobile network operators yesterday to start preparing guidelines that are expected to be ready in about a month.
The action comes after the Consumer Council said it had received 470 complaints about charges for short messages in the first 11 months this year. In one case a man had to pay HK$8,000 after signing up for a 'free' friend-seeking service.
Mobile network operators share about 70 per cent of profits from short messaging while content providers get the rest, the regulator says.
A four-point code will include a requirement that information providers use wording that stands out and clearly separates pay messages from free messages. They should also make the fee mechanism clear to users, showing how much is to be charged for each paid message and provide a clear and simple way for cancelling pay text services.
Any disputes should not affect other mobile services of the users.
