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The approval of licenses for information hotlines was suspended Wednesday in south China's Guangdong province, and a strict price limit was set on their use.
The local telephone authorities ordered the hotlines, which charge fees for information, to put a halt to any illegal operations before Nov. 23, and to cancel their live information services, except for those operated by professionals approved by the provincial telephone authorities.
A maximum fee was also set for each individual caller to prevent them from accumulating high charges.
The hotlines, of which there are 90 in Guangdong, are intended to provide useful information, but complaints have risen over some illegal operations, such as those charging exorbitant fees or offering sex-related chat.
The Information Industry Ministry of China has made a unified request to regulate operation of these information lines, a source from local telephone authorities said.
(Xinhua News Agency November 16, 2002)
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