"Second time allocation" leads to infringement of consumer rights, experts believe
Operators should actively perform the auxiliary elimination obligations
□ Our reporter Han Dandong
□ Intern Yang Jie
Recently, Mr. Guo, a netizen in Xi’an, Shaanxi, set up a new mobile phone number a few months ago, but he often receives calls from the dry cleaners to pick up clothes.
Due to the serious impact on his life, Mr. Guo wanted to cancel the number, but the Unicom Business Office informed him that the number was a pretty number, and the cancellation required a penalty of more than 20,000 yuan.
After repeated communication to no avail, Mr. Guo complained to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the result was that he suggested to sue himself.
"Such related incidents are typical operators who reclaimed mobile phone numbers used by others and're-issued the numbers again', causing consumer rights to be infringed." During the interview, Sun Li, a lawyer at Shanghai Hengyanda Law Firm, said, "Two The issue of “secondary number allocation” will not only affect consumers’ lives, but may also infringe on citizens’ personal privacy. The most fundamental way is for the relevant authorities to cooperate with operators to develop more number resources and completely solve the problem of insufficient communication numbers.
Dispute caused by second number allocation
It is not easy to log out
Mr. Guo wanted to cancel the number, but China Unicom’s mobile customer service said that Mr. Guo’s number was originally a flash account agreement. If he cancels his account, he will need to bear a penalty of 398.12 yuan, and the cancellation of the flash account will cost 21150.2 yuan.
According to reports, Mr. Guo stated that he did not sign the relevant breach of contract when handling the new account, and no one told him that if the account was not used, there would be such a high cost and there was still a 20-year contract.
At present, the relevant parties of China Unicom have dealt with the result of paying Mr. Guo a 500 yuan call fee and asking him to continue to use this number.
Mr. Guo did not accept this, and complained to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology after repeated communication with no results. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology recommended that Mr. Guo apply to the arbitration institution for arbitration or file a lawsuit with the people's court in accordance with relevant national laws and regulations.
Coincidentally, Mr. Liu from Chongqing recently issued a new mobile phone card. It didn’t take long for him to receive various harassing calls, and he frequently received vehicle ticket information and login verification codes from Chongqing traffic police, but in fact Mr. Liu and the ticket information There is nothing to do with the vehicles in it, so how come the new mobile phone number has other information.
After some verification, Mr. Liu realized that the phone card he had applied for was an old card.
Ms. Wang from Jiangsu also said that she had encountered the same problem.
Not long ago, she received various debt collection calls on the first day after she got the work mobile phone number uniformly handled by the unit.
"Not long after it was done, people kept calling for debt collection. This matter lasted for about half a year before gradually disappearing. Then I directly logged into Weibo with this number and found that someone had registered before, so I had to log out and register again. New number." Ms. Wang said.
It is understood that the so-called "secondary number allocation" means that after the old users deactivate or abandon their mobile phone numbers, the numbers are taken back by the operator and placed on the market again after a period of vacancy for new users to choose.
On April 28, 2020, China Internet Network Information Center released the 45th "Statistical Report on China's Internet Development Status". As of March 2020, the number of Chinese mobile phone netizens reached 897 million.
According to industry insiders, in the face of a large number of mobile phone users, mobile phone numbers are a scarce resource, and "second allocation" is a necessary means to effectively activate idle communication resources.
Limited total number of phone numbers
The second call is also helpless
According to Zhu Xiaofeng, a professor of law at the Central University of Finance and Economics, the problems in the protection of consumer rights caused by the "second allocation" of the operator's recycling number reflect several problems:
First, the development of digital technology has made the use of telecom resources, including telephone numbers, unprecedentedly expanded, with unprecedented complexity and an unprecedented increase in the number of uses. This provides operators with more opportunities for "secondary allocation" and also Consumers' use of phone numbers brings more potential adverse effects.
Second, the ownership relationship of telephone numbers is complicated. Telephone numbers are intangible objects in the property law and are difficult to use and manage like tangible objects.
Under my country's current legal system, in accordance with the "Telecommunications Management Regulations", the owner of telecommunications resources is the state, operators are telecommunications business operators, and consumers are owners of the right to use telecommunications resources.
The telephone number is a telecommunication resource, but the possession of the telephone number is different from the possession of tangible objects. The operator directly owns the telephone number after the service contract relationship with the user is terminated, but the specific use of the telephone number before this and its possible The negative impact on subsequent use will not necessarily be controlled by the operator after the termination of the previous use contract, and even if it is mastered, it may not be able to completely eliminate these possible disadvantages to future users due to technical reasons. influences.
Third, telephone numbers are a non-renewable resource with a limited total number.
Under my country's existing phone number usage rules, mobile phone numbers can only start with 13-19 and the last 8 digits, so the total number is limited.
Therefore, in life practice, on the one hand, some people have several phone numbers, and they may change them frequently; on the other hand, the total number of phone numbers is limited. In this case, if the operator does not "re-issue the number", it will lead to new users Unable to get phone number.
Fourth, before signing a telecommunications service contract with a new user, the operator should inform the user of the possible problems with the corresponding number in accordance with the service contract before handing over the telephone number to the new user, and within the scope of the duty of care, it may affect the new user’s use of the telephone The disadvantages of the number are eliminated.
In practice, operators usually do not explain the situation to new users, nor do they use technology or use a long time interval before "second allocation" to prevent new users from being adversely affected.
Urgent need to do after-sales work
Properly protect user rights
How should we deal with the problems that plague consumers caused by the "second number allocation"?
In this regard, Sun Li suggested: First, the operator should spare a longer retention period from the time of reclaiming the number to the "second number allocation"; second, it is recommended that the operator clearly inform the consumer when the number is "secondary allocation". Whether the number is “secondary allocation”, fulfill the obligation of prompting to protect consumers’ right to know and choose; finally, it is recommended that operators do after-sales work, once consumers are harassed by telephone or other inconvenience due to the former owner Timely and properly handle the problems encountered by consumers.
In terms of consumer rights protection, Sun Li said that consumers should first negotiate with the operator and ask the operator to change the number. Consumers who are harassed or caused inconvenience due to the second issuance of the mobile phone number request to change the number should not be regarded as consumption. The person breached the contract.
If the operator refuses to replace or cancel, the consumer can file a complaint with the local consumer association. If it still cannot be resolved, the consumer can file a lawsuit in the court to request the cancellation of the service contract with the operator.
In Zhu Xiaofeng’s view, in order to solve such problems, after the termination of each telecommunications service contract, operators are obliged to clean up the traces of use of the telephone number left by the previous contract within the scope of technology and time permitting, and do their best. Possible reduction of the adverse impact on the potential next user.
Operators are obliged to explain when signing a telecommunications service contract with consumers. They should inform consumers whether the number they choose is a "second number allocation", to satisfy consumers’ right to know, and to choose by themselves, and the operator can The cost is designed to consider the adverse effects on consumers that may be caused by "secondary allocation".
With regard to the elimination of adverse effects encountered by consumers when using telephone numbers, operators shall actively perform the obligation of assisting elimination within the scope of contractual obligations.
Zhu Xiaofeng stated that when consumers are adversely affected when using a phone number, if the operator has not actively notified or deliberately concealed the "secondary number allocation" of the number before that, the consumer has the right to claim liability for breach of contract against the operator in accordance with the contract law ; If the operator has notified the "secondary number allocation" before then, the consumer has the right to request it to assist them in eliminating the adverse effects within the scope permitted by technology. If the operator fails to cooperate, the consumer has the right to report in accordance with the principle of good faith It claims to bear legal responsibility.
“In the future, the application of 5G will be more extensive, and the number may be more scarce. Therefore, it is imperative to upgrade the number system. Relevant departments can actively explore new ways to establish and maintain large databases. Once the mobile phone number is recovered, relevant data should also be Synchronously clear to avoid subsequent personal information being leaked." Sun Li said.