11 video and audio websites including iQiyi and Youku were summoned for talks due to their ugly behavior

Recently, the Zhejiang Provincial Consumer Rights Protection Committee interviewed the above-mentioned video and audio websites and proposed rectification suggestions based on the previous member consumption experience results of nine major video platforms including iQiyi, Tencent Video, Youku, Mango TV, Sohu Video, Tencent Sports, PP Video, LeTV Video and Bilibili, as well as two major audio platforms including Himalaya and Qingting FM. Nine major problems were exposed, including adding charging items, charging different prices for the same film for Android and iOS consumers, and suspected price discrimination.

Zhejiang Consumer Protection Committee proposed nine rectification suggestions for the problems found:

No reminder for automatic renewal deduction. Zhejiang Consumer Protection Committee requires that websites should remind consumers of the upcoming deduction in an effective manner within 3 days before the automatic renewal of membership expires, and only deduction can be made after obtaining the consumer's consent.

The default option of automatic renewal makes it easy to activate but difficult to cancel. The Zhejiang Consumer Protection Committee recommends that relevant websites cancel the default option; that they should not use technical means to guide consumers to choose platform-recommended options, and that they should not implement a single-page full-display function for selected options; and that they should set a one-click cancellation function when setting up a one-click service.

Adding charging items. The Zhejiang Consumer Protection Committee stated that relevant video and audio websites should take effective measures to effectively solve the "ugly" problems such as multiple charges and multiple charges, and ensure that member services are transparent, fair and honest.

The paid programs purchased cannot be watched in full screen. The Zhejiang Consumer Protection Committee proposed that operators should fully fulfill their obligations according to the contract content, otherwise they should be held responsible.

The Zhejiang Consumer Protection Committee proposed that except for the scope prescribed by national laws and regulations, consumers’ personal information should not be obtained by force; when collecting information, the content and scope of use should be clearly stated to consumers.

The recharge amount is fixed, the refund channel is not smooth, and the recharge balance is not universal on Android and iOS clients. Zhejiang Consumer Protection Committee requires websites to provide consumers with a channel to freely choose the recharge amount so that the items purchased by consumers and the recharge amount can match each other; at the same time, it effectively protects consumers' property rights and fair trade rights, and clearly indicates the refund channel for the recharge balance to consumers in a prominent manner to ensure that the account balance can be refunded in a timely manner.

Some video and audio websites offer different prices for the same film to Android and iOS consumers, which is suspected of price discrimination. The Zhejiang Consumer Protection Committee stated that all platforms must not discriminate against consumers in terms of price and treat them differently, and should ensure that the prices of services purchased by consumers are consistent.

Advertisements in some apps are directed to "micro-businesses", and the customer service cannot provide relevant certification documents. The Zhejiang Consumer Protection Committee proposed to establish and improve the registration, review and file management system for Internet advertising business; improve after-sales service and provide consumers with convenient complaint channels.

Among the above problems, except for the root cause of the charging problem of Android and iOS platforms, which is caused by Apple's 30% share, the other problems are related to the video and audio websites themselves, especially the promotion of no ads and skip ads, which can easily mislead consumers, and the addition of additional charges can easily cause consumers to be disgusted. In the popular TV series "Celebrating More Than Years" at the beginning of this year, Tencent and other websites created charging methods such as VIP members also needing to watch on demand in advance, which caused heated discussions on the Internet. Many consumers opposed this practice of charging extra fees in addition to VIP fees.