In recent years, there has been a lot of consumer disputes over dating services, and many of them were even cases of consumer fraud. In response, the Executive Yuan designated the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) as the central competent authority for businesses that offer dating services. The MOI has developed relevant management mechanisms and prepared the Mandatory and Prohibitory Provisions of Standard Contract for Dating Services in order to provide a channel for consumers to date without worries.
According to statistics from the Executive Yuan’s Department of Consumer Protection (DCP), nearly 500 consumer complaints were received nationwide by special (Executive-Yuan-governed) municipal and city/county governments in 2021 in relation to dating services (including online and physical stores). Among these complaints, 91% were made by males and 6% by females; in terms of age groups, 50% were 23-32 years old (born from 1991 to 2000), followed by 38% who were 33-42 years old (born from 1981 to 1990), and 9% were 43-52 years old (born from 1971 to 1980). It is clear that consumer disputes occurred in a wide range of age groups. Young people were not the only age group affected, adult men and women also fell into these traps.
The DCP stated that "dating services" refers to the services provided by vendors for monetary compensation to match and introduce two people to meet and develop a relationship. Based on analyses, these are the types of disputes commonly seen over dating services:
1. Selling products instead of meeting friends; consumers expected to meet online friends through dating apps or websites/platforms, only to be introduced to beauty products and courses.
2. Consumers were unknowingly misled into signing an installment loan contract without requiring collateral. They wanted to make friends but instead took on a large amount of debt.
3. Information was not transparent. Additional fees were required from consumers for scheduling a date. Attending a social event also required a fee. Consumers were also persuaded to upgrade to a VIP membership and paid a large sum of money for this.
4. Consumers wished to terminate the contract for certain reasons but were in turn charged unreasonable default fees such as document filing fee and video course fees, which could be as high as NT$ 10,000 to N$ 100,000 or more.
The DCP stated that it will urge the competent authority, the MOI, to swiftly develop relevant management guidelines and the Mandatory and Prohibitory Provisions of Standard Contract to prevent consumers from becoming victims of fraud for wishing to make friends; in addition, with robust and safe dating channels, consumers will have a greater chance to find their right significant other, which will further ease the serious decline of Taiwan's child population.