A China Mobile user spent two months traveling back and forth to their hometown twice, experiencing a "no decrease, no increase" in order to apply for a package tariff reduction for their elderly family members. The recent media exposure of cases of difficulty in lowering user tariffs has attracted widespread attention and once again revealed the tip of the iceberg of the chaos in operator packages. Through extensive investigation and research, it has been found that it is not uncommon for mobile phone plans to be easy to upgrade but difficult to downgrade. Many users of the three major telecom operators have experienced similar situations. In addition, there are also chaos such as "secretly adding packages to users" and "luring" users to upgrade tariffs. And "charging according to the original package after changing the package", "unlimited data speed limit promoted", "high-frequency harassment of users promoting upgraded packages" have also been "condemned" by many users. On the Black Cat complaint platform, there have been tens of thousands of complaints related to packages from the three major telecom operators. Legal experts say that such differential treatment (upgrading and downshifting) by operators is a breach of contract. Consumers have the right to independently choose goods or services, and operators have no right to interfere or set obstacles in this regard. The reason why such chaos has not been curbed is mainly because existing normative documents have limited constraints on operators. At the same time, telecom operators have a monopoly advantage, and the contracts they use for users are mostly in the form of standard contracts, with terms that are naturally advantageous to the operators. Downgrading is difficult, upgrading packages is easy, but downgrading is difficult. Recently, Mr. Zhou from Wenzhou, Zhejiang, went to great lengths to lower package fees. In late June, he wanted to change the 39 yuan/month China Mobile SIM card package to an 8 yuan tariff, but the mobile customer service representative who connected the phone stated that he did not have the corresponding authority and needed to create a work order for the customer manager to handle. However, the customer manager who called later first asked about the reason for changing the package, and then recommended new packages of 59 yuan and 79 yuan to him. After unsuccessful promotion, he also stated that he did not have the authority to change the 8 yuan tariff, and Mr. Zhou needed to go to the offline business hall to handle it. Mr. Zhou is very puzzled and continues to contact mobile customer service to seek a solution. After making a total of over ten phone calls, he completely lost patience and decided to "transfer numbers to the internet". Not long after, local staff in Wenzhou contacted Mr. Zhou and advised him to suspend the number portability service, promising him certain discounts, while also stating that he did not have the authority to change the package. Mr. Zhou, who had gone through many twists and turns, could only file a complaint in the end. Afterwards, the staff finally agreed to give Mr. Zhou a compromise plan: to first downgrade him to an 18 yuan/month package, and then offer a monthly discount of 10 yuan for a period of three months. When Mr. Zhou returns to Wenzhou during the National Day holiday, they will go to the offline business hall to discuss the need to change the tariff to 8 yuan. Although he reluctantly accepted this plan for the time being, Mr. Zhou is still confused. "Changing the 39 yuan package to 59 yuan or 79 yuan can be directly processed online, but it is so difficult to lower the package." China Mobile is not the only operator in the user's account that has difficulty in downgrading packages, and the other two operators often cause similar troubles to users. Mr. Huang from Nanchang is a user of China Unicom. Last year, he wanted to change his 60 yuan/month package, but the China Unicom app prompted him that he could not downgrade. Mr. Huang had to put this matter on hold for the time being, and it was only five months later that he was able to complete the process at the local offline business hall when he returned to his hometown. The other complainant is a nearly 10-year old user of China Telecom who wants to change their package, but every time they ask customer service, they are told that the current price is the lowest, starting at almost 130 yuan per month. Another China Unicom user mentioned that the customer service told them that the 8 yuan tariff is a package that can only be changed and used by people over 60 years old and low-income groups. As a user, the reporter called the hotlines of the three major telecom operators in several provinces, including Zhejiang Mobile, Guangdong Unicom, and Ningxia Telecom. Except for a few provinces, most staff members stated that users can upgrade their packages directly online. However, if they want to downgrade, especially to switch to an 8-yuan number protection package, they need to register and wait for feedback from the specialist, or go to their local offline business hall to handle it. Li Yuan, a partner at Beijing Jingshi Law Firm, stated that such differential treatment (upgrading and downgrading) by operators is a breach of contract. For operators, upgrading and downgrading packages for users are obligations that should be fulfilled under the contract. Based on the principle of fairness, there should be no difference in providing similar services based on whether they are beneficial to themselves. Li Yuan also mentioned that users who apply for downgrading packages are also the act of choosing their own service methods during the purchase process. Operators have no right to interfere or set obstacles to this, otherwise it would infringe on consumers' right to make their own choices. The reporter found that although the customer service of the operator mostly claims that they do not have the authority to change the package, once the user's attitude is firm, especially when they are ready to file a complaint, many times this "permission" seems to be able to be opened. In addition to the difficulty of lowering tariffs, there are also situations where operators secretly add packages for users and lure them into upgrading. Ms. Liu from Henan has been using a 29 yuan/month King Card package from China Unicom in recent years. In June of this year, she discovered that her personal tariff bill had an additional stacked package starting from two months ago, with an extra deduction of 15 yuan per month. In addition, she also added a 5 yuan SMS package. She was very confused because she had not proactively ordered these two packages. After unsuccessful communication with customer service, Ms. Liu filed a complaint for a refund on the China Unicom app, but waited for several days without anyone handling it. Ms. Liu went to the Black Cat platform to complain again. Not long after, China Unicom staff contacted Ms. Liu and took the initiative to cancel the extra package for her, and refunded a total of 45 yuan deducted for the previous three months. In fact, Ms. Liu had a similar experience in March this year. At that time, she received a text message informing her that a new service worth 5 yuan/month had been launched. Surprised, Ms. Liu immediately called China Unicom to inquire, and customer service cancelled it. In addition to secretly adding packages, some users have also been "tricked" into upgrading. In July of this year, Mr. Liu from Guangxi contacted China Telecom to inquire about the relocation of the fiber optic network. The staff replied that the fiber optic network could be relocated, but the original package could not be retained. Mr. Liu's mobile phone plan is 114 yuan/month, and the broadband plan he previously purchased on this basis was 9.9 yuan/month, using a fiber optic speed of 300M. The staff stated that due to the upgrade of the fiber optic line, the new address building no longer has the original package and needs to be replaced with a 1000M speed one, priced at 199 yuan/month. The difference between the new home and the original address is less than 2 kilometers, and China Telecom's statement is difficult to convince people. Moreover, he does not need such a high network speed. Mr. Liu disagrees with the upgrade. After multiple unsuccessful communications, Mr. Liu went to the Black Cat complaint platform to file a complaint. However, within two days, the staff of China Telecom called Mr. Liu to handle the fiber optic migration. These two types of chaos are both using fraudulent means to trap consumers in consumption misconceptions, which is a revocable civil legal act, that is, the contract can be revoked. It is essentially profiting from fraud and seriously infringing on consumer rights Zhu Wei, Deputy Director of the Communication Law Research Center at China University of Political Science and Law, said. Li Yuan also expressed that the above-mentioned chaos indicates that there are many irregularities in the provision of services by operators, and also indicates that there are still gaps in industry regulation and current regulatory mechanisms. The drafting party of the Bawang format contract naturally holds a strong position. In cases where the original package involves a contract, changing the tariff is even more complicated. In addition to time costs, termination of the contract may also result in a penalty for breach of contract. In February of this year, Mr. Liu from Shenzhen wanted to apply for a package downgrade, but was informed that the package was still within the contract period and could not be processed. But Mr. Liu remembers very clearly that he only participated in one event in 2019, and the contract period for the second year had ended. I did not have any communication with 10086 regarding the other contract signing dates mentioned by the customer service. Mr. Liu made 5 phone calls to discuss this situation, and finally stated that if it cannot be handled again, he will file a complaint. Faced with this' tough 'attitude, the staff ultimately processed a package downgrade for it. In July of this year, Mr. Chen from Nanning, Guangxi also encountered a similar situation. The customer service feedback stated that his package had signed a two-year contract and could only be replaced after it expired. Mr. Chen was only able to make changes after receiving complaints through multiple channels such as China Mobile APP, 10086, Black Cat Complaints, and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The reporter learned from the operator staff that some contracts require users to pay a penalty for early termination, while others do not, and the amount of penalty varies depending on the situation. In addition, some contracts can be terminated in advance, while others must wait until the expiration date before changing the package. Li Yuan analyzed that whether the relevant provisions of the contract are compliant depends on the specific situation. The contract package signed between the operator and the user usually imposes some restrictions on the user's rights while providing certain discounts. If both parties are clear about their respective rights and responsibilities and the legal consequences of signing, it should normally have binding effect on both parties. The current prominent problem is that in most cases, consumers do not have a comprehensive understanding of their obligations when signing contracts, and operator staff tend to exaggerate the discounts that users can receive, leading to users making incorrect judgments. In this case, there are doubts about whether the concealment and inducement behavior of the operator complies with the rules. Li Yuan mentioned that telecommunications service contracts belong to standard contracts (standard contracts are terms pre drafted by the parties for repeated use and not negotiated with the other party at the time of contract formation). The prominent feature of a standard contract is that the drafting party naturally holds a dominant position, which can easily result in unfair outcomes for the contracting parties. The operator shall fulfill the obligation to remind and explain the terms of the contract period, termination conditions, and liquidated damages at the beginning of signing. If the operator does not specifically remind or even conceal them at the time of signing, then the terms shall be invalid Li Yuan said. Zhu Wei also analyzed that if consumers and operators want to make changes during the performance period after signing the contract, they should follow the contract agreement in principle. However, there are many problems and chaos at this stage, mainly because the vast majority of consumers did not carefully read the important terms and conditions in the contract process. These belong to standard terms. Any disputes that arise, such as the need to pay a penalty to change the package, are all based on the standard terms in the contract. If the operator does not provide any notice beforehand, some of them are considered violations. "Analysis expert: Existing normative documents have limited constraints on operators. As early as around 2006, the media had exposed such phenomena. In the following years, with the diversification of packages brought about by the development of smartphones and communication technology, the related chaos intensified. On the Black Cat Complaints Platform alone, there have been tens of thousands of complaints related to the packages of the three major telecom operators, including 29896 complaints about China Mobile packages, 23645 complaints about China Unicom packages, and 8233 complaints about China Telecom packages. Behind the frequent chaos, the reporter found that it may be related to the operator's business considerations. The financial report shows that the revenue growth rate of the three major telecom operators has declined in recent years. Taking 2023 as an example, China Mobile's annual revenue was 1009.3 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.7% (a year-on-year growth rate of 10.5%), China Telecom's revenue was 507.843 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.9% (a year-on-year growth rate of 9.5%), and China Unicom's revenue was 372.6 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.0% (a year-on-year growth rate of 8.3%). In fact, these signs of slowing down have already begun since 2021. At the same time, the gross profit margins of the three major telecom operators have been generally declining. On the other hand, the personal market remains the fundamental market for operators. Taking China Mobile as an example, the group's revenue in 2023 is 1009.3 billion yuan, of which personal market revenue is included