If you live in Russia, most likely you have a SIM card in your smartphone from one of the Big Four operators.
You know exactly how much money you need to deposit into your account every month to stay in touch and are not particularly interested in additional options.
It is quite possible that you regularly pay for some completely unnecessary service, such as a cheerful melody instead of beeps. You may not even know that it exists: after all, you don’t call yourself.
The cost of replacing beeps with a song starts from 49.9 rubles. per month from MTS. Beeline, Tele2 and Megafon are more cunning; they debit 3-5 rubles from the subscriber’s account every day for using this service.
The amount is small, but at the end of the month you wonder: where did 150 rubles go?
Each operator has paid services to honestly take money from subscribers.
Typically, such a service is activated at the operator’s initiative for free. But after 7-10 days, when you have already forgotten about it, it begins to eat up money from your mobile account. And you can have a dozen such “useful” services, from daily stupid horoscopes to “anecdote of the day” that come to you via SMS (this is in the 21st century!).
Here's how to check what you have connected there and immediately disable all unnecessary services:
If you have a Megafon
How to check and disable active services : all information about them is displayed in your personal account on the Megafon website, or in the mobile application, which can be downloaded from the App Store and Google Play.
In your personal account, you should select the “Services and Options” item, and then see whether among them there is something you don’t need or not.
How to protect yourself from connecting to services : you need to go to any Megafon office with your passport and demand to connect a special content account to your SIM card.
This is a separate personal account for paying for entertainment services, from which money should be debited for all sorts of “melodies instead of beeps” and other rubbish. If there is no money in this account, Megafon will not be able to connect you to any unnecessary service.
Of course, you will never replenish this account.
How to complain and request a refund : If you think that the service was activated without your knowledge, you need to call Megafon support at number 8 and dictate a complaint requesting a refund of the money written off.
It happens that the operator meets halfway and returns the written off amount.
Has your operator connected paid services without your knowledge? Is there a way to get your money back?
Where To: VimpelCom PJSC Customer Support Center
From *************************** passport **** No. ******
Issued by: ************************************************ *****
Claim
On August 22, 2018, I learned from representatives of VimpelCom PJSC that paid services costing 30 and 30 rubles per day on May 29 and May 30, respectively, were activated without my consent. With the debit of 60 rubles daily from the personal account +7********** The funds were debited in favor of a certain
I believe that the debiting of funds from my personal account at VimpelCom PJSC in favor of RGK-PRODUCTION LLC was carried out illegally for the following reasons:
1. I have not given any consent to provide any paid services. Despite this, funds were debited from my personal account at VimpelCom PJSC for allegedly paid services provided. These actions contradict paragraph 3 of Article 16 of the Law “On Protection of Consumer Rights”.
2. I was also not provided with information about the manufacturer of the service and information about the service itself in a clear and accessible form. This violates my (the consumer’s) right to complete and reliable information about the service, which is provided for in Articles 8 and 10 of Law of the Russian Federation No. 2300-1 “On the Protection of Consumer Rights”;
3. By paying for the services of third parties for me, VimpelCom PJSC acts in someone else’s interest, but for this you need to have my order (Article 980 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). I did not give VimpelCom PJSC an instruction to pay for my obligations to a third party with funds placed on my personal account. I do not approve of these actions (Article 983 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). In addition, I was not notified of these actions as soon as possible, as required by Article 981 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation;
4. I was not provided with any documents confirming the existence of any contractual relationship with RGK-PRODUCTION LLC for the provision of any services. As well as supporting documents about the services provided to me by this organization.
I consider VimpelCom PJSC to write off funds from my personal account without my instructions as theft. Moreover, the very fact of daily illegal withdrawal of funds was hidden from me until I myself turned to VimpelCom PJSC for clarification.
The operator PJSC Vimpelcom refused my legal demand for the return of written-off funds in favor of RGK-PRODUCTION LLC. I demand a refund to the personal account +7********** of funds in the amount of 5130 rubles written off for services not provided. Otherwise, I will be forced to seek protection of violated rights and legitimate interests from Roskomnadzor, Rospotrebnadzor and the court.
Please inform me about your decision by calling the contact phone number: +7**********
27.08.2018
If you have MTS
How to check and disable active services : you need to go to the special “My Content” page, logging in using the password from your MTS personal account.
It is possible to view all connected services in the mobile application, which must be downloaded to your smartphone from the App Store or Google Play.
If you don’t want to bother with your personal account, you can check the list of connected services via a USSD request. Dial *152*2# , press call and follow the prompts on the screen.
How to protect yourself from connecting to services : like Megafon, MTS has a separate personal account for paying for entertainment (unnecessary) services. To connect it to your number and never top it up, you need to go to the MTS office with your passport.
You can also simply connect . It makes it impossible to send and receive SMS to short 4-digit numbers. To activate this service, call from your mobile number 0890.
How to complain and request a refund of written-off money : call the short number 0890 and leave a complaint with a request to return the written-off money. You wait, because everything is at the will of the operator.
How to disable additional features
The first task when you detect that money has been debited from your account in excess of the norm is to check for paid subscriptions. You can perform the operation in the following ways:
- via USSD request - to do this you need to dial *105# and press the call key. Then you need to follow the commands on the screen;
- through the mobile application on your smartphone “My Megafon” - you need to visit the “services” section and familiarize yourself with the options available on your number. There you can enable the “banning paid subscriptions” function;
- visit your personal account on the official Megafon resource;
- contact the operator and ask to activate the ban on paid subscriptions in the future.
The most effective way to stop unnecessary charges is to enable a ban on paid options. You can do this as follows:
- Create a separate personal account to pay for mobile services. The procedure is carried out in the operator’s office, it cannot be done over the phone or online, but after that you can calmly surf the Internet and not be afraid that one awkward move will enable you an unnecessary function, the presence of which you will not immediately find out about.
- Enable the “Stop content” option. This will make sending SMS and making calls to short numbers impossible. This way, your phone will be insured against unexpected debits.
In addition, you can deactivate paid subscriptions by sending an SMS with the word “STOP” to 5051.
Any Megafon subscriber can use the “Stop Content” function, regardless of the tariff plan. However, please note that the service operates exclusively on your home network; the service will not operate outside the region.
There is no charge for activating the ban on paid subscriptions; the service is absolutely free.
If you have Beeline
How to check and disable active services : go to your personal account, then the “Profile” tab, scroll down to “My infotainment services”, click on this item and see what you have connected.
You can also use the mobile application. Download it from the App Store or Google Play, open the “Tariffs and Options” section, scroll down to the “Services” section.
How to protect yourself from connecting to services : the most reliable way is to connect a content account. There is no need to go anywhere, just call 07226 or dial *110*5062# on your smartphone.
How to complain and request a refund of written-off money : if something was connected and regularly consumed money, call 0611 , complain and demand a refund.
Court opinion
After studying the case materials and a written response from the MegaFon company, the court decided to grant the application of the Roskomnadzor Office. In making his decision, the judge relied on the provisions of the following provisions of law:
- Part 6 art. 205, according to which during the court hearing the fact of an administrative violation is established, evidence is studied and penalties are determined;
- Clause 1 Art. 46 126-FZ, according to which the telecom operator is obliged to comply with the terms of the license and the provisions of the law;
- Government Decree No. 1342 of December 9, 2014, approving the rules for the provision of communication services;
- Part 1 art. 45 126-FZ, which obliges to conclude agreements with subscribers in accordance with Resolution No. 1342;
- Clause 7 of the Rules, which allows the provision of additional services by the telecom operator.
In accordance with the provisions of clause 26 of the Rules, the user has the right to receive information about all services he receives and refuse to pay for those that were provided to him without his consent. The operator must save all subscriber actions in electronic form.
Clause 113 of the Rules also establishes the obligation of the mobile operator to notify its subscriber about changes in the service package. To do this, a short SMS message is sent to the subscriber's phone.
What are content services? These are additional services of the telecom operator, which are designed to make the company’s main service more attractive. These include messages in the form of reference information, entertainment services, voting, games for which the subscriber has to pay. However, paragraph 5 of Art. 44 126-FZ provides for the mandatory obtaining of user permission to receive such services.
Also clause 5 of Art. 44 it is determined that the telecom operator, when providing content services, must provide the subscriber with information about the essence of the services and the prices for them.
The Law “On Communications” provides for the liability of a telecommunications company to its subscribers if it does not fulfill its obligations to inform and obtain consent to activate additional services.
So, paragraph 5 of Art. 54 126-FZ establishes that if paid services are provided by a mobile operator in violation, they may not be paid for by the subscriber.
If you have Tele2
How to check and disable active services : the entire list of active subscriptions and services is visible in your personal account on the website.
You can also download the mobile application from the App Store and Google Play, and in it find the “Manage Subscriptions” section.
How to protect yourself from connecting to services : go to the nearest Tele2 customer service office with your passport, write an application to open a separate account for entertainment services, and never top it up.
How to complain and request a refund of written-off money : if money has already been written off for an unnecessary service, call 611 , complain and ask for a refund. The decision is at the discretion of the operator.
Facts of the case
When considering the appeal of citizen V.V. Kukushkin The Roskomnadzor office identified an administrative violation. In the complaint, the applicant pointed out the illegal debiting of money from the subscriber's account.
Previously, a contract for communication services was concluded between Kukushkin and the company. The operator provided the subscriber with a number to which a service called “Subscription” was linked for using the Internet resource muzlodrom.ru. This site provides visitors with access to musical works
. Let’s make it clear right away that Kukushkin was not informed about the connected service.
In the complaint, the citizen also indicated that on September 23, 2021, 150 rubles were withdrawn from his account for services that he did not order. On the myzuka.me portal, the subscriber pressed the button to play the melody, and after that the telecom operator activated the “Subscription” service to the muzlodrom.ru resource.
MegaFon provided the court with data from which it is impossible to determine whether the option was launched at the initiative of the subscriber or not. Turning on the Internet service by clicking a button on the main page of the site does not qualify as the consent of the cellular user to connect to additional commercial services. The subscriber's consent is expressed in one of these ways:
- sending SMS,
- USSD request from subscriber phone,
- WEB, WAP requests.
All actions of subscribers with a SIM card inserted into a mobile phone are recorded by certified equipment of the telecom operator.
The MegaFon company did not provide the court with any evidence that the activation of this service was carried out with the consent of Kukushkin. At the same time, the subscriber also did not contact the portal with music content to connect to the service. It was activated by clicking on the “Watch” option. Such an action cannot be regarded as consent to activate a paid service.
The mobile operator also did not provide the court with evidence that it complies with the rules for providing content services in accordance with paragraph 5 of Art. 44 126-FZ “On Communications”. The norm obliges the operator to obtain permission from the subscriber to connect an additional service and inform about its cost. This provision must be followed; it is aimed at preventing the illegal debiting of subscriber money.
did not notify the subscriber V.V. Kukushkina about the content service and did not receive consent from him to activate it. Therefore, the money was written off illegally.
Cellular subscribers should be careful when clicking on links. Not all service users monitor the debiting of money and sometimes do not even know that they have paid services connected. In this case, clicking on the links is not accompanied by information about the payment for the service and does not constitute the user’s consent to activate it.
Consequently, the Roskomnadzor Office correctly qualified the actions of the telecommunications company as an administrative offense under Part 3 of Art. 14.1 of the Administrative Code and drew up a protocol. To bring the telecom operator to justice, the regulatory agency appealed to the arbitration court.
If you have Yota
But here there will be no instructions, because Yota does not have any hidden subscriptions, melodies instead of beeps and other pseudo-entertainment services.
Not at all, really. So you choose your own tariff with the required number of minutes, SMS and megabytes on their website and pay a strictly fixed amount every month.
For example, 20 gigs of mobile Internet per month cost 325 rubles . Add 50 minutes of calls and here you have a full tariff without any hidden charges for 377 rubles.
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