By Leon Perlman
May 12 2010
The South African Wireless Application Service Providers' Association (WASPA)
has made a number of changes and additions to its Code of Conduct that offer
even more peace of mind to consumers that use the mobile applications, services
and content provided by its members.
The WASPA Code
of Conduct - which most of South Africa's major WASPs subscribe to - outlines in
detail how the organisation's members should conduct themselves in their
interactions with the public, including how they advertise their services, their
billing procedures, unsubscribe procedures, and the type of content they may
carry.
WASPs are service providers that provide mobile applications and content such as
bulk SMS messaging, ringtones, wallpapers, and information services to corporate
customers and directly to consumers.
The latest version of the Code includes a number of new provisions that beef up
rules designed to ensure that consumers are billed transparently and fairly for
services they sign up for; that WASP services are promoted in an honest manner;
and that customers can terminate a service easily and conveniently should they
wish to do so.
According to Mike Hainebach of WASPA,
ethical behaviour by WASPs is in the interests of consumers and the industry
alike. With each new version of our Code of Conduct, we add further protections
for consumers to ensure that they can use our members' services secure in the
knowledge that their rights are being looked after"
One new clause obliges WASPA members
to notify customers as soon the total cost service in a calendar month exceeds
R200, and to notify them again every time the total cost of the service climbs
by a further multiple of R200. WASPs must also now send a separate confirmation
message to the customer's mobile handset if he or she registered for a service
on a web page or WAP site. This message may contain a PIN number which is then
confirmed or validated on the web page, or a URL with a unique identifier,
which, when clicked, validates the handset number.
For subscription services that are initiated via WAP, and which are not
confirmed by the customer using the above validation process, WASPs must display
a WAP confirmation page to the potential subscriber. The WAP confirmation page
must clearly display the name of the service, the price and frequency of
billing, and a phone number for customer support.
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