Anhui User Complains China Mobile Charged Hidden 3 RMB Fee for 11 Years
Mr. Liu of Anhui filed a complaint alleging that his wife's mobile number had been charged 3 RMB monthly for a call reminder service since 2015, a hidden deduction lasting more than 11 years. The fee never appeared in regular SMS billing statements and was visible only in the carrier app's detailed pages. China Mobile refunded 405 RMB, but the couple seeks a public apology and triple compensation under consumer protection rules. No settlement has been reached. China Mobile says activation requires user confirmation, though the record was marked "no authentication," while MIIT rules demand active user consent for value-added services.
Mr. Liu of Anhui filed a complaint with a consumer rights protection platform, stating that his wife's mobile number had been charged 3 RMB per month for a call reminder service since 2015, with the deduction continuing for more than 11 years. The fee was never listed in the regular SMS billing statements pushed by China Mobile; users could only see the charge by navigating through the multi-level detail pages of the carrier's dedicated app.
Following the incident, China Mobile refunded the total principal of 405 RMB to the affected user. The couple's demands include a public acknowledgment and apology, as well as compensation under the "one refund, three compensation" standard provided for in consumer protection regulations. The two sides have not yet reached an agreement on a settlement.
China Mobile customer service explained that all value-added services must go through a secondary confirmation process on the user's handset before activation. However, when the user requested the activation record for verification, the record was marked "no authentication." The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) clearly stipulates that mobile value-added services may only be activated with the user's active confirmation, such as replying to a designated SMS verification code, manually ticking a confirmation box on the app page, or signing at a physical service outlet.
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