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(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