Sina Science and Technology News on the morning of February 3, it was reported that Harbin Administration for Industry and Commerce had recently launched the action of "calling off illegal rules for telecommunications charges", but this action was questioned by many telecommunications professionals, who said that Harbin Administration for Industry and Commerce was ultra vires law enforcement. For such disputes, some experts said that government pricing, government guidance pricing or market regulation pricing was applied to basic telecommunications service charges, The practice of the industry and commerce department to stop the charging rules alone needs to be discussed, and should be handled together with the relevant departments. Sina Technology summarized the beginning and end of the communication billing rules battle:
Cause: Harbin Administration for Industry and Commerce launched the action of "calling off illegal rules of telecommunication charges". The problem of suspected infringement of consumers' legitimate rights and interests in telecommunication services such as telephone charging standards and fixed telephone basic fees will be intensively rectified. The Consumer Insurance Division of the Municipal Administration for Industry and Commerce will stop illegal rules of telecommunication charges, collect clues from the public, organize volunteer groups and lawyers groups to support consumers' lawsuits brought to the court due to unreasonable charges. At the same time, the industry and commerce department will supervise telecom enterprises to modify the telephone charging standards.
This has triggered a number of complaints from people in the telecommunications industry, each with reasons and many disputes. To sum up, there are three focuses of dispute between the two sides.
Argument 1: Does Harbin Administration for Industry and Commerce have the right to call a halt?
Voice of telecommunication industry: Harbin Administration for Industry and Commerce has no right to "stop" telecommunication charges
reason: Harbin Administration for Industry and Commerce has no right to "call off" telecommunication charges. The Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Telecommunications stipulates that the supervision and administration of the telecommunications industry belongs to the competent department of the State Council in charge of the information industry, and is supervised by its local agencies - local communications administrations in all provinces, districts and cities.
Article 24 of the Telecommunication Regulations stipulates that the basic telecommunication service tariff shall be set by the government, guided by the government or regulated by the market. The catalogue of telecommunications tariff classification management shall be formulated by the competent telecommunications department after soliciting opinions from the competent pricing department; Article 25 stipulates that the standard range of the government guided prices for telecommunications services shall be formulated by the competent department of the telecommunications industry after soliciting opinions from the competent price department. The telecommunications business operator shall independently determine the tariff standard within the standard range and report it to the telecommunications regulatory authority of the province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government for the record.
Harbin Administration for Industry and Commerce: We administer according to law
reason: It is the duty to investigate and deal with the infringement of the telecommunications industry. Article 40 of the Telecommunication Regulations of the People's Republic of China stipulates that if the telecommunication business operator refuses to solve the problem or the telecommunication user is dissatisfied with the result of the solution, the telecommunication user has the right to appeal to the competent department of the information industry under the State Council or the telecommunication administration of the province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Government or other relevant departments. The telecommunications administration of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government is not the only legal department to accept consumer complaints, and other relevant departments such as industry and commerce can accept complaints filed by telecommunications users for paying telecommunications fees according to their responsibilities.
Argument 2: Do the current charging rules infringe on the rights and interests of consumers?
Harbin Administration for Industry and Commerce: Charging by minute violates the civil transaction principle
Reason: In 1995, according to the Interim Provisions on National Digital Mobile Phone (GSM) Billing Principles, every call is charged in minutes, and less than one minute is counted as one minute, which violates the basic principles of civil activities and market transactions, and infringes consumers' right to property security and fair trade.
Voice of telecommunication industry: The charging rules quoted by Harbin Administration for Industry and Commerce are out of date
Reason: In 2000, the former Ministry of Information Industry, the former National Development Planning Commission and the Ministry of Finance jointly issued the Notice on the Structural Adjustment of Telecommunication Tariffs, which made structural adjustments to some telecommunication tariffs, reformed the billing unit of some tariffs such as domestic long-distance calls, and shortened the billing unit from one minute to six seconds, However, the billing unit of basic call charges for mobile phones has not been adjusted.
In 2004, the former Ministry of Information Industry issued the Notice on the Filing of GSM Mobile Phone Business Billing Principles of China Mobile Communications to the provincial, autonomous regional and municipal communication administrations, The notice clearly stated: "The basic call fee for mobile phones is charged in minutes, and if it is less than one minute, it will be counted as one minute... The effective charging time is from the time of the called response to the time when either party hangs up or the unlimited channel is released."
In 2009, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the Notice on Adjusting the Tariff Management Mode of Fixed Local Phone and Other Services, which implemented ceiling management on the basic monthly rent of fixed local telephone services and the telephone charges in the local network business area, as well as the basic monthly rent of local network wireless access telephone services and the tariff level of local network telephone charges.
Argument 3: Should calls be charged per second?
Harbin Administration for Industry and Commerce: The results of the implementation of the minute charging rule should not harm the legitimate rights and interests of consumers. This charging rule should reflect the principles of voluntariness, equality, fairness, honesty and credibility. Under this billing principle, telecom operators overcharge consumers.
Voice of telecommunication industry: Yang Peifang, president of the China Society for Information Economy, said that to require the telecommunications industry to charge by the second is to seek the end at the expense of the original! The reform direction of telecommunication tariff is simple, transparent, decreasing according to the amount, until capping and monthly subscription, so that everyone can talk with confidence and surf the Internet at will. If it is considered that the finer the charging unit is, is it reasonable to charge by 1 millisecond and 1 bit? Materials and energy will be scarce, and information will never be! "
How should the dispute be settled finally?
Harbin Administration for Industry and Commerce: What we focus on is that no matter what the charging principles and standards are, we must not continue to damage the legitimate rights and interests of consumers. It is necessary to supervise telecom enterprises to take practical ways to remedy and avoid property losses caused to consumers under the current billing principles, so as to give consumers justice and return consumers justice.
Voice of telecommunication industry: Ding Daoqin, a researcher of the Telecommunication Research Institute of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, believes that the government pricing, government guidance pricing or market adjustment pricing is applied to the basic telecommunication service tariff, and the practice of the industry and commerce department to call off the charging rules alone needs to be discussed, and should be handled together with the relevant departments. Previously, in January 2011, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce jointly issued the Notice on Further Rectification of Mobile Phone "Charging". This precedent of joint law enforcement can serve as a reference for this matter.
The People's Post and Telecommunications Daily also wrote an article today, If Harbin Administration for Industry and Commerce thinks that the charging unit of the current tariff structure is unreasonable, it is more appropriate to report it to the competent department of the industry, and negotiate with the competent department of the industry to promote the revision of laws and regulations, without the right to "stop" telecommunications charges without authorization.
