Prepaid cards with fixed expiry dates: Consumers' Foundation says non-compliant

In response to "March 15 World Consumer Rights Day," the Consumers' Foundation surveyed 11 telecom prepaid cards and found that all of them violated the relevant contract regulations by setting usage expiry dates, and called on the NCC to strictly enforce oversight to protect consumer rights.

In this survey, the Consumers' Foundation in March went to operator partner stores or convenience stores to purchase top-up cards, and examined a total of 11 prepaid card products, all of which were top-up cards. Of these, 7 were general-value top-up cards and 4 were metered mobile internet top-up cards. The general-value top-up cards were priced from NT$99 to NT$300, and the metered mobile internet top-up cards were all priced at NT$180.

The Consumers' Foundation found that although the "Mandatory and Prohibited Particulars in Standard Form Contracts for Telecom Product (Service) Vouchers" stipulates that a "usage expiry date" must not be recorded, the survey found that the operators of all 11 products had set usage expiry dates.

The Consumers' Foundation said that once these 11 products are topped up, the usage period for general top-up cards is 180 days (6 months), and the usage period for mobile internet top-up cards is 30 days, a 100% violation rate; operators also all stipulated that users must top up again before the usage period expires in order to extend the period, with the extension period likewise being 180 or 30 days.

Second, the Consumers' Foundation also found that 5 products' official websites stated that when there is a balance, it can be transferred to another mobile number under the same operator; but if the transfer is not completed within 6 months, a custody fee will be charged until the balance is fully deducted; compared with the "Mandatory and Prohibited Particulars in Standard Form Contracts for Telecom Product (Service) Vouchers," which stipulates that "charging additional fees" must not be recorded, it questioned whether deducting the balance by charging a custody fee is non-compliant.

Furthermore, the Consumers' Foundation also found that 9 products, accounting for 82%, had some mandatory particulars not recorded, or had unclear recorded information; under the aforementioned telecom product regulations, mandatory particulars include "operator name, address, unified business number and responsible person's name," "issue number," and "performance guarantee," among others.

The Consumers' Foundation called on the competent authority, the National Communications Commission (NCC), to safeguard consumer rights.