Some children use parents' mobile phones to take online lessons, anti-sneaking online games and recharging in large amounts

Who will be responsible for tens of thousands of yuan in children's monthly games?

Our reporter Yang Zhaokui

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In the recent period, many "bear kids" secretly played online games and made large recharges while taking online lessons on their mobile phones. Some children spent about 30,000 yuan on online games in February this year alone. "Bear kids" frequently recharge online games frequently. Is it the responsibility of online game companies or parents? Can I get the money back?

"A 12-year-old child stole his mother's mobile phone to play games, and recharged a total of 13,272 yuan between March 17 and 21. Our ignorance did not know that we are requesting a refund of the relevant fees, but so far it has not been resolved." March 22, consumers Mr. Gong complained on the Jucom Complaint Platform.

Mr. Gong's experience is not alone. A recent interview with the Workers' Daily reporter found that in the recent period, many "bear kids" secretly played online games and made large recharges while taking online lessons on their mobile phones. Some children spent 30,000 yuan on online games in February this year alone. about.

"Bear kids" frequently recharge online games frequently. Is it the responsibility of online game companies or parents? Can I get the money back? How can I prevent my child from making large deposits? A reporter from the Workers' Daily conducted an investigation.

"Storytelling" as a gimmick

A consumer warning recently issued by the Chinese Consumers Association shows that a consumer in Jiangsu stated that his 9-year-old started playing online games in 2019. As of February 2020, he has spent more than 110,000 yuan on the same game. It cost about 30,000 yuan in February this year alone.

Relevant persons in charge of the Consumer Council of Guangdong Province also told reporters that many parents recently complained to an online game company to the Consumer Council of Guangdong Province, claiming that minors at home use mobile phones of adults to recharge thousands of yuan without their consent Even tens of thousands of yuan in game costs.

In addition, some consumers report that some online games use "telling stories" and "developing intelligence" as gimmicks for children under 8 years of age, and provide game entertainment in the form of free trials without any charge prompts. I do n’t know After a few free trials of the child in love, the game suddenly prompts to pay to continue the customs. Without parental supervision, children often click on payment without any awareness. After the parents noticed it, they have caused financial losses, and some of them are huge.

Need to improve real-name certification

After the child made a large amount of recharge, some parents believed that online game companies did not strictly implement the relevant state regulations in the real-name system certification and payment, and they should bear the relevant responsibilities.

According to the "Notice on Preventing Minors from Addicting to Online Games" (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice") issued by the State Press and Publication Administration in November 2019, "All online game users must use valid identity information to register for game accounts. "But many consumers report that some online games can log in directly by default using their mobile phone numbers; some games can continue to be used even after closing the pop-up" real-name system "prompt box.

In addition, the Notice stipulates that online game companies must take effective measures to restrict minors from using paid services that are incompatible with their civil capacity. Online game companies may not provide game payment services for users under the age of 8. For game payment services provided by the same online game company, users who are over 8 years old and under 16 years old can't recharge up to 50 yuan each time, and can't accumulate more than 200 yuan per month; users over 16 years old and under 18 years old, The single recharge amount shall not exceed 100 yuan, and the monthly recharge amount shall not exceed 400 yuan.

Many consumers point out that because online game companies have not implemented real-name certification, and have not taken effective measures to limit juvenile payment behavior in the charging process, this has led to frequent disputes over minor recharge.

However, some experts said that parents' neglect of supervision of minors and failure to properly manage mobile payment accounts and passwords are responsible for causing consumer disputes and children's addiction to games.

How to prove difficult to prove

So, after the child recharges a large amount, can the parents return the money? A person in charge of the Guangdong Provincial Consumer Council told the reporter: "After the child made a large recharge, some parents tried to communicate with the online game company for a refund, but the other party explicitly stated that it would not be refunded. After receiving the complaint, the Guangdong Consumer Council immediately contacted Both parties launched investigations and mediations, but because the parents could not effectively prove that the recharge behavior was operated by a minor and lacked evidence of rights protection, the mediation could only be concluded ineffective. "

In response, Zhu Wei, deputy director of the Communication Law Research Center of China University of Political Science and Law, said that according to the general rules of civil evidence, whoever advocates and who gives evidence. However, under normal circumstances, the child is hiding the recharge behavior made by the parent. If there is no monitoring, it is really very difficult to prove that it is just white teeth. However, under the real name system requirement, if the main system of game registration is a minor, it should be presumed that the game recharge behavior is performed by the child, unless the game company can prove to the contrary; if the real name of the game is an adult, It can be presumed that the top-up behavior was done by an adult, unless the parent can come up with evidence that the child has misused his account.

In Zhu Wei's view, in practice, many game platforms have not seriously implemented the online real-name system. For this type of platform, because it is an illegal act in itself, users cannot be paid for the illegal acts of the game platform. Therefore, the burden of proof should be inverted to the gaming platform.

Parents should also manage mobile payment functions

In order to reduce the occurrence of minor top-up online game consumer disputes, Chen Jian, director of the Complaints Department of the China Consumers Association, said that online game operators must strictly implement the real-name authentication requirements, verify their identity every time the user logs in to the game, and ensure that the registered account and actual Player identity is the same. For minor players, online game operators should effectively activate protection mechanisms such as game addiction prevention systems and payment restrictions.

At the same time, take effective measures to verify the identity of the recharger to prevent minors from recharging in the name of their parents. Before the consumer recharges, it is necessary to promptly indicate the charging items and amount; in the consumer payment process, it is recommended to comprehensively use a relatively high security verification method such as fingerprints and facial recognition, and increase the consent or retrospective link of minor parents to Ensure the validity of payments. And strictly implement the "Notice" regulations, limiting the maximum recharge limit for minors.

"Parents should also manage APPs with payment functions, try to avoid letting minors know important information such as transaction passwords, and reduce the possibility of minors paying themselves," said Chen Jian.