Disney Plus Sales Pressure... KCC Orders LGU+ to Improve

The Korea Communications Commission (KCC) held a plenary session and announced on the 21st that it has decided to issue an order to improve the work procedures related to LG Uplus's Disney+ 3-month free subscription service enrollment.

After investigating complaints received by LG Uplus and conducting a survey targeting retail stores, the KCC determined that there were no confirmed cases of actual damage caused by refusal to activate mobile phones, and no violations of the Telecommunications Business Act were found. However, it was confirmed that some LG Uplus agencies implemented policies such as "mobile phone activation not allowed" or "unreasonable incentive deductions" if the Disney Plus (+) free service was not subscribed to at the retail stores. Specifically, some LG Uplus agencies enforced a sales policy that deducted between 10,000 KRW and up to 50,000 KRW per case if the Disney+ free service was not subscribed to.

The KCC judged that such sales policies could lead retail stores to coerce users into subscribing to unnecessary additional services. This could be considered an act that harms the interests of users. Therefore, the KCC instructed LG Uplus to improve the work procedures related to retail store sales policies concerning additional service subscriptions.

Acting Chairman Kim Hyo-jae stated, "By improving the work procedures related to sales policies for additional service subscriptions at retail stores, we expect to alleviate user inconvenience and help reduce users' household communication expenses," and added, "We plan to provide administrative guidance to ensure that other mobile carriers also improve their work procedures in the same way."