TapTechNews on June 30. Currently, many apps' auto-renewal mechanisms have tricks. Many users often subscribe to various services inexplicably, or can't find a clear cancellation entry when canceling monthly subscriptions and need to go through cumbersome steps to terminate the renewal.
In order to strengthen the protection of consumers' rights and interests, the Regulations for the Implementation of the Consumer Rights and Interests Protection Law of the People's Republic of China will be implemented on July 1 (tomorrow). Article 10 of the regulation stipulates that when an operator provides services in an automatic renewal or auto-renewal way, it shall draw the consumers' attention in a prominent way before the consumers accept the services and before the dates of automatic renewal, automatic rollover, etc.
The implementation of relevant regulations will effectively simplify the process for consumers to safeguard their rights and interests. In the future, when consumers encounter unauthorized auto-renewal problems, they will be able to defend their rights and interests more conveniently.
According to TapTechNews' previous report, at the press conference on the industrial and information development situation in the first half of 2023, Zhao Zhiguo, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said that it will focus on remediation of the pain points such as deception and misleading downloads and forced automatic renewal that users strongly reflect.
In addition, the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone Consumer Rights and Interests Protection Ordinance was officially implemented on January 1 this year. For the problem of auto-renewal, the Ordinance requires that:
The online transaction operator that provides services in an automatic renewal or auto-renewal way must obtain the consent of consumers and cannot default to check and forcibly bundle the opening;
Before the consumers open the service, it should inform the consumers about the service content, the amount and way of deduction, etc. in a prominent way and clear and easy-to-understand language;
During the service period, it should provide consumers with a convenient way to cancel or change the service at any time;
5 days before the dates of automatic renewal, automatic rollover, etc., it should inform consumers about the service content, the deduction amount and other matters through effective channels such as telephone, text message, instant communication tools, e-mail, and message push.