China's Ministry of Information Industry has released 14 new rules to regulate the cost and charges related to mobile communications service.

According to these new rules, from October 10, only SMS and color message service directly subscribed through telecom operators including China Mobile and China Unicom are valid. The new rules say that telecom operators must not charge the users until they receive a second confirmation of the subscription.

The telecom operators must keep their users' telephone numbers and service application time for at least five months in order to maintain quality service. In addition, telecom operators are required to send a detailed list to the users each month notifying them of their consumption during the month. This list may also serve as an evidence in case of phone call disputes.