Kazakhstan Bans Mobile Operators From Adding Paid Services Without Double Confirmation

From June 28, mobile operators in Kazakhstan will be allowed to connect additional paid services only after double confirmation from the subscriber, Orda.kz reports.

The order was signed by the minister of digital development on June 18.

Consent may be given through a personal account, SMS, phone call, or USSD request. In all cases, the subscriber must confirm the service twice.

Previously, operators often connected paid services in a way that subscribers did not immediately notice the charges.

Operators have also been banned from using short “beacon” calls to notify users about missed calls. Previously, the service could be disabled, but in practice this worked only if both subscribers deactivated it — the person calling and the person receiving the call.

Now such notifications will be replaced with regular SMS messages.

Subscribers will also be able to easily opt out of any advertising and informational mailings from their operator.

The rules for registering phone numbers for children under 14 have also been tightened. A number for a minor can now be registered only by a legal representative through biometric identification. Only one number may be registered for each child.

Original author: Ruslan Loginov

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