China's 315 Consumer Rights TV Show Exposes Many Major Firms' Violations
Yicai Global
DATE:  Mar 18 2019
/ SOURCE:  yicai
China's 315 Consumer Rights TV Show Exposes Many Major Firms' Violations China's 315 Consumer Rights TV Show Exposes Many Major Firms' Violations

(Yicai  Global) March 18 -- State media China Central Television shined its  spotlight on many companies for robocalls, illegal collection of  personal information, online lending app violations,  sales of harmful e-cigarettes, and other infractions on the 29th 315 TV  Show it held on World Consumer Rights Day on March 15. 

Companies involved include Beijing-based marketing and brand management service company BlueFocus Intelligent Communications Group, Foshan, Guangdong province-based iFlytek, which develops speech and language technology and software and chips, and other listed firms.

Online risk management firm Shenzhen Samoyed Internet  Financial Services is suspected of using 'probe boxes' to collect phone  numbers and personal information without users' knowledge when their  mobile phones' wireless connections are on, placing the tiny devices in  shopping malls, convenience stores and office buildings to stealthily  collect data on marital status and income, per the report.

The show also alleged Beijing-based digital marketing and advertising firm Behe  Technology uses smart robots to make spam calls, but authorities have  found no evidence to support this claim. The firm's shareholders include  BlueFocus and iFlytek.

Home appliance giants Midea  Group based in Hefei, Anhui province, Ningbo Fotile Kitchen Ware and  Wuxi Little Swan duped customers with 'repairs' of sound products or did  more repairs than needed and charged excessive after-sales service  fees.

Peer-to-peer  lender Rong360.Com was also targeted. Consumers who used the website  for loans were forced to purchase various products at premium prices,  CCTV's investigation found. After being named, the share price of Jianpu  Technology [NYSE:JT], Rong360's subsidiary, fell 13 percent that day.

The  show also aired a segment on e-cigarettes, reporting they release  harmful substances, and people who smoke them for a long time get hooked  on nicotine. Information as to some e-cigarette's liquid nicotine  content is not standardized, and some contain excessive amounts. Some  also contain formaldehyde, propylene glycol and glycerin. Many  e-cigarette related concept stocks will take a hit, analysts believe.

"Samoyed  has held an emergency meeting and set up a special investigation team  to thoroughly investigate the problems mentioned in the show. We will  reveal the results of the inspection to the public as soon as possible,"  was its official response to the report.

Behe  said in a statement that the product exposed is owned by Tianjin Behe,  in which it is just and investor and takes no part in any of its actual  operations or management.

BlueFocus,  Behe's shareholder, said in a statement that it merely invested in the  latter and has no seat on its board and no say in its daily operational  decisions.

iFlytek  invested in Behe in 2015 and only holds a 3.7 percent stake in the  latter, it said in a statement, adding it also has no seat in its board  and is not involved in running it.

Midea  Group is aware of the situation, it said on its Weibo account, adding  it will severely deal with those responsible for the illegal charges in  its service outlets, sincerely apologizes to affected users and will  take remedial measures.

Rong360  is urgently meeting to conduct internal investigations and  rectification of the issues exposed by 315 Show, per its statement.

CCTV  and national government departments jointly host and broadcast the 315  Show live, which is a large-scale public interest show that first aired  on March 15, 1991.

Editor: Ben Armour

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Keywords:   CCTV 3·15 GALA,consumption,Blue Focus,home appliance