Under the change in the code of practice, telecom salespeople will be required to conduct credit and revenue checks on new customers who buy new packages worth more than 45 yuan.
Communications regulators have vowed to punish companies that violate the new rules, but consumer groups say the changes are far from enough to protect consumers from plunder.
Under the new rules, salespeople will be required to conduct external inspections before they can offer packages worth more than 1000 yuan to new customers and customers who previously had prepaid calls.
Stanton, chief executive of telecommunications industry group communications, said the new rules meant that industry codes were``significantly strengthened'' .
But consumer groups criticize the new rules as far from protecting consumers from preemptive marketing.
"We know that vulnerable consumers are more likely to be exploited by high-pressure salespeople," said Cobin, chief executive of (ACCAN), an Australian communications consumer action network. "however, the knowledge gap between ordinary customers and team members of telecom companies means we often rely on their advice to determine what we should buy and how much we should spend."
Brody, of the law Center for Consumer Action, says telecommunications companies should be subject to the same regulation as banks. "the new rules only require them to see where their customers' income comes from, not the overall financial position. But the reality is that expensive post-paid telecommunications products are like loans, which means that people may end up owed high debt, and we regulate loans and require banks to assess whether customers are able to pay off their loans, and there is no reason to say that we should not require telecom companies to comply with these standards."
Telecom consumer protection (TCP) rules can be enforced by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), offending companies can be prosecute and fined millions of yuan.
The new rules are revised every five years, and as national consumer regulators investigate Telstra sales, there are growing reports that vulnerable aborigines have been forced to sell mobile packages they can't afford.
Financial advisers said improper sales of mobile phone contracts were "widespread," and Aguang heard dozens of examples in which Telstra clients receiving benefits were forced to sell contracts with a monthly rent of up to 250 yuan.