As a personal / residential user, what should I do to ensure I am protected?

To enjoy the enhanced protection, before signing up for a new telecommunications service contract or renewing an existing contract, you are advised to –

  1. read through and understand the content of the service contracts, drawing reference from the Industry Code where necessary, and seek clarification from service providers on any of the contract terms if in doubt; and
  2. confirm with the service providers that their service contracts comply with the Industry Code on such issues of your concern, such as -
    1. arrangements for contract renewal/termination;
    2. unilateral variation of contract terms and conditions by service providers; and
    3. arrangements for customer moving location.

How am I protected under the Industry Code?

The Industry Code better protects you in the following aspects -

  1. Enhanced Clarity in Contracts and Transparency and User-friendliness of Contract Documents;
  2. Provision of Written Confirmation for Contracts Concluded over the Phone;
  3. Opt-out Option for Free-Trial Service;
  4. Cooling-off Period and Additional Voluntary Consumer Protection Measures;
  5. Enhanced Procedures for Service Contract Renewal and Termination;
  6. Better Protection of Customers in case the Service Providers Vary the Contract Terms and Conditions Unilaterally;
  7. Fairer Arrangement for Customers' Service Relocation Requests; and
  8. Better Protection for Senior Customers.

Remark

Since July 2011, all major fixed and mobile operators have implemented the Industry Code. Under the Industry Code, consumers who enter into new individual / residential telecommunications service contracts with the operators concerned enjoy enhanced protection.

Under the first revised version of the Industry Code, consumers with a contract entered into, renewed, extended or replaced between 1 May 2015 and 30 September 2023 enjoy additional protection as follows:

  1. improving the arrangement for contract termination so that the arrangement must not cause inconvenience to customers or involve unreasonable delay;
  2. improving the arrangement for the provision of written confirmation for extension or renewal of contracts;
  3. stating clearly in the contract the calculation of termination charge or the maximum amount involved, if it is not feasible for the operators to provide service at the relocated premises due to the absence of network coverage;
  4. stating clearly in the contract the calculation of the first bill and the last bill within the contract term; and
  5. encouraging operators to implement better cooling-off period arrangement with greater flexibility.

Under the latest version of the Industry Code, consumers with a contract entered into, renewed, extended or replaced since 1 October 2023 enjoy additional protection as follows:

  1. stating clearly in the first few pages of the principal contract documents information regarding key contractual features (e.g. applicable service charges) and/or direction on where to obtain details of such features;
  2. improving the arrangement for the provision of written confirmation for contracts by targeting to expedite its issue from 10 to seven working days;
  3. encouraging operators to provide additional consumer protection measures (e.g. service trials);
  4. improving the arrangement for contract termination by allowing the customer to give the service provider a notice of termination as early as 60 days in advance of contract expiry; and
  5. encouraging operators to provide better protection to senior customers aged 65 and above (e.g. quality control calls before contract conclusion, or dedicated customer support channel).

For the previous and current versions of the Industry Code and the list of telecommunications service providers who have adopted it, please visit the webpage provided by the Communications Association of Hong Kong (CAHK): http://www.cahk.hk/cop/en_contracts.

CAHK is a trade association for Hong Kong's communications industries and its official website is at http://www.cahk.hk.