Crackdown on deceptive APP practices

Deceptive APP practices Illustration: Xia Qing/GT

Smartphones and various APPs are now indispensable for people in modern society. But almost everyone has been troubled by the proliferation of automatic subscription renewals which are hard to cancel and limit consumers' right to make their own choices. Users just need to hit a few buttons to subscribe to a service, but have to spend a lot of time finding the way to unsubscribe, and may even need to switch between several platforms to do so. Users also have difficulties preserving their rights when being unreasonably charged by APPs, while the standard contract terms unilaterally enacted by some APPs don't bother to prompt consumers to pay attention to contents which are significantly related to their own interests. There is a need to effectively strengthen supervision to combat illegal business practices and upgrade the rules governing transactions.