Clearer bills and war on scam services on mobile phones. LCommunications Authority (Agcom) declares war to automatic charges for unsolicited services by customers and pushes the accelerator on the new phone bill. That of unsolicited paid digital services (ringtones, games, in-app purchases, etc.) is a long-standing phenomenon that has dramatically inflated the bills of many Italians in recent months and which has already led, last week, to a strict Antitrust provision which fined the four telephone operators for a total of 5 million euros. On the issue of bills, on the other hand, the need for clarity, ease of understanding and transparency pushes the Authorities (even the one on Energy has started the process that will lead, from next September, to new bills with a single page instead of five). .
To be precise, the Antitrust has imposed fines of 1,7 million euros to Telecom Italia and H3G and from 800 thousand euros to Wind and Vodafone, for premium services – games, music, erotic content – activated on mobile phones without users' permission. “It's not the first time we've fined them for this reason, but this time it's different: it's our most important decision, because it establishes that what the operators have done so far is no longer good. And things have to change: we estimate that this is a business of almost one billion euros a year, mostly made up of activations not requested by users”, observed the guarantor.
MOBILE PHONES
Precisely for this reason, the expected intervention of Agcom has now arrived, which in a 72-page resolution made public yesterday on the site set out the measures aimed at truncating the gray area represented by unsolicited debits. The most important is this: the operator will be able to charge the cost of the service only if the user has given "explicit consent" to the subscription. As? By entering your phone number on the service page itself. It may seem like a small thing but it revolutionizes the system used so far on this market, whose value is around one billion euros (according to Agcom estimates between 600 million and one billion).
To date, the customer is subscribed with a click on the service page: click that can also be almost involuntary (by touching the touch screen) or obtained in various ways (even using invisible banners that the user does not even see and unknowingly touches when scrolling the page). Hence Agcom's decision to allow the subscription only if the user does something that cannot be involuntary, such as entering his own number. Not only that: with the novelty introduced, finally, the other practice in use today is also eliminated, which consists in the fact that operators automatically transmit our telephone number to the service provider, thus making the charge possible.
REFUNDS
The Authority also intervenes to make repayments faster and easier for those who have run into unsolicited debits. It is another problem to be solved, because many customers have had to face the rubber wall of the operators. "In addition to the preventive blocking of charges - explains the Authority - users can obtain, with a simple phone call or message, the immediate termination of subscriptions to premium or value-added services activated in any case inadvertently by the user or unlawfully by third parties as well as the stopping further charges; in these cases, users will also be able to request operators to return the sums charged with a quick and simple procedure”.
BILLS FOR MOBILE PHONES AND LANDLINES
The third most significant measure is the "transparent bill" for both mobile and landline. It will also arrive automatically to those who have debited their current account or credit card and will be sent by e-mail by the operators. The bill that will have to include new information, including the details of premium subscriptions (one of the problems is that users often fail to understand which services they have subscribed to).
As far as the fixed line is concerned, the Authority's resolution requires operators to enter new data such as the guaranteed minimum band for browsing the Internet or the migration code for switching to a new telephone provider. "Operators - writes the Authority - will have to clearly indicate the "User transfer code" (which now appears as a secret code or migration code) on the first page, according to a standard graphic display, and provide detailed information relating to the quality of internet access services (fixed and mobile) such as, for example, the value of the contractually guaranteed minimum bandwidth, both for download and for upload".
Finally, Agcom asks the operators to allow users to cancel contracts also via email (uncertified), while today some operators require the sending of the more bureaucratic registered letter with return receipt. However, the question of how to confirm receipt of the email now arises.
The Authority's system is rigorous, but will it hold up to the comments that will arrive from the operators? The resolution is subject to possible modifications, given that it goes into public consultation for 60 days before entering into force. At the same time the Antitrust is also moving, which asked operators to say how they intend to tackle the problem of unsolicited season tickets, again within 60 days. In the spring, hopefully, users will be able to resume surfing on mobile phones and using apps without the fear of running into scam services.
