Agcom has published a measure made up of three articles by which it obliges operators to block value-added services almost completely
Agcom’s (Authority for Communications Guarantees) goal is quite clear: to limit value-added services as much as possible, i.e. all those subscriptions that people activate by mistake on their smartphones and that involve the instant payment of 5-6 euros. Some operators have deactivated them by default, while others allow to recover the money subtracted by calling the customer service or activating the barring of SMS.
The Agcom, however, wants to arrive at a final solution that makes happy both operators and users, tired of being charged sums only for having pressed by mistake on an advertising banner appeared suddenly. The Guarantor for communication has called a public consultation to collect comments on the draft measure presented. There are three rather simple articles, but they set precise rules that must be respected by all operators: from the automatic blocking of VAS services (this is the name in technical jargon) to the sending of an OTP code to the customer before the purchase of a subscription service
AGCOM: the new rules for value-added services
Before making the measure final, Agcom wants to hear the opinion of all interested parties: from operators to consumer associations. The Guarantor has published a measure of three articles, very simple in their form, but which provide for an almost total block of value-added services.
Article 1 obliges all operators to release only new SIM cards with the block of subscription services, except for services such as SMS banking, mobile ticketing and 89X surcharge services. Already this decision would be epochal compared to the current situation.
For cards already in operation, however, the user can decide to activate or not the block by calling the customer service of their operator. In any case the person will receive an SMS to confirm the activation of the block.
Article 2, instead, deals with the next part, that is the purchase. Even if the user does not activate the blocking of VAS services and decides of his own free will to purchase a subscription, it will be necessary to enter an OTP code to give the final confirmation, as if it were a sort of double authentication.
Article 3 establishes the timing of implementation of the new rules. If the measure is accepted, Article 1 will come into force 30 days after the date of publication, and Article 2 120 days after publication.