TOKYO: Two Japanese telcos have been reprimanded, reportedly for misleading advertising over cellphone billing. NTT DoCoMo and KDDI were handed down "severe" warnings from the country's Fair Trade Commission.
The FTC said leaflets claiming to offer a 50% discount in monthly contract prices failed to highlight that subscribers only qualified for the reduction if they signed up for two years and had to pay a cancellation penalty of ¥9,975 ($90; €61; £44).
The same advertisers were cautioned late last year over similarly misleading claims, while a third telco, Softbank Mobile, was warned about an ad that said subscribers could make free calls.
Data sourced from Asahi Shimbun Online; additional content by WARC staff
