From time to time, salespersons of telecommunications service providers may visit homes of potential customers without being invited to promote their services, i.e. the so-called “unsolicited home visits”. Some of the consumers may feel uneasy in handling such unsolicited home visits and may at times be pressed to agree to use certain telecommunications service and to sign their names on contracts, without clearly understanding or knowing the details of the services and the contract terms.

Under the Industry Code of Practice for Telecommunications Service Contracts ("Industry Code"), consumers will be better protected with the introduction of a cooling-off period. In summary,

1. A cooling-off period is applicable if the concerned contracts are concluded during unsolicited visits to a customer's home.
2. The cooling-off period must be NOT less than seven days, during which the customer may cancel the contract without incurring any payment liability or any other obligation whatsoever.
3. Nevertheless, cooling-off period does not apply to –
   1. a service which a customer is not required to be registered as a customer (e.g. pre-paid SIM card or Wi-Fi card for trial);
   2. a service which is subsequently subscribed in addition to the main service under the same existing contract; or
   3. extension, renewal or replacement of an existing contract unless the transaction is concluded during an unsolicited home visit.
4. Consumers should also be aware that cooling-off period may be terminated under certain specific conditions –
   1. once the service has been provided;
   2. once the service provider commences the physical provisioning of the service;
   3. once the network terminating unit, customer premise equipment or user device or any promotional gift has been collected by or delivered to the customer;
   4. three days before the scheduled completion date of the number porting as agreed by the customer; or
   5. after a quality control confirmation call in respect of the contract concerned has been made.
5. Consumers should be mindful that the applicability of cooling-off period is not without restrictions. Consumers should therefore always exercise care when considering any service contracts and should carefully read all the details of the contract before they sign any contracts.
6. The Industry Code encourages the service provider to have the flexibility to implement a better cooling-off period arrangement that provides additional protection to the customers, e.g. the service provider is encouraged to provide a cooling-off period which is more than seven days from the date the customer enters into the contract and for contracts concluded over other sales channels besides the unsolicited visits.

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