Inspection conclusions reveal that Viettel cooperated with the inspectors to observe Inspection Decision No.727/QDTTra issued on October 3, 2019 by MIC’s Chief Inspector and provided any documents when asked, along with sufficient explanation.
Viettel has actively applied Artificial Intelligence (AI) for information collection of its subscribers to improve precision and minimize the use of unknown pre-activated SIMs (Subscriber Identity Module).
However, the fact that Viettel signed 35,960 contracts with individual collaborators who are not its official employees for mobile telecoms service provision does not comply with Point b of Paragraph 1 in Article 1 of Decree No.49/2017/ND-CP and Point 3 of Official Dispatch No.866/BTTTT-TTra issued March 26, 2019 by MIC.
Therefore, Viettel is administratively fined VND90 million (approx. US$3,855).
VNPT strictly observed Decision No.725/QD-TTra issued October 3, 2019 by MIC’s Chief Inspector.
The company has also developed specific software making use of AI to identify appropriate information as well as comparing pictures from the ID of contract signers and the captured picture at the time of signing contract in order to ensure information precision.
However, when offering services for 100 subscribers having imprecise personal information, VNPT does not comply with Paragraph 5 in Article 15 of Decree No.49/2017/ND-CP and Point a of Paragraph 2 in Article 30 of the same Decree.
VNPT’s violations lie in the fact that certain contracts signed at The Gioi Di Dong, one of its authorized telecoms service providers, have no information as to ‘Full name of transaction officer’; SIM users are not the ones signing VNPT’s contract because one of its authorized telecoms service providers used employees’ information to pre-activate a large quantity of SIMs before releasing them in the market, and thus not truly observing transaction conditions in VNPT’s official contract form; the captured digital image of contract signers are not direct and true captures but edited photos from either certain IDs or other sources.
Therefore, VNPT is administratively fined VND90 million (approx. US$3,855).
MobiFone strictly observed Decision No.729/QD-TTra issued October 3, 2019 by MIC’s Chief Inspector and provided any necessary documents when demanded.
Mobifone has developed and used mSale software, implementing AI to accept and sign contracts in accordance with its formal form with sufficient transaction conditions, in order to improve precision when collecting subscriber information and avoid the use of pre-activated SIMs.
However, MobiFone has been offering services for 100 subscribers with imprecise personal information compared with the content set forth in Paragraph 5 in Article 15 of Decree No.49/2017/ND-CP and does not comply with Point a of Paragraph 2 in Article 30 of the same Decree.
Two of MobiFone’s authorized telecoms service providers post Complaint Handling Protocol not in compliance with the content in Paragraph 1 in Article 4 of Circular No.05/2011/TT-BTTTT.
Therefore, MobiFone is administratively fined VND90 million (approx. US$3,855).
MIC’s inspectors ask the Vietnam Telecommunications Authority to carry out these administrative fines.
Simultaneously, the three above telecoms enterprises are requested to apply better methods to monitor subscriber information collection at their authorized and mobile telecoms service providers to minimize the act of circumvent the law to obtain illegal profits, resulting in unwanted negative consequences from pre-activated SIM users.
