Photo/Illutration Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, left, discusses medical and nursing care services for elderly people in Tokyo’s Toshima Ward on Aug. 7. (Pool)

Unscrupulous businesses are reportedly preying on elderly people who live alone, prompting the government to start an investigation with an eye on possible legal restraints in the unregulated industry.

The number of people 65 or older in single-person households has more than doubled from 3.03 million in 2000 to 6.72 million in 2020.

Tapping into the growing market, businesses are offering “security” for elderly people when they are admitted to a hospital or a nursing home. They also administer their properties and arrange for post-death procedures, such as cremation and disposal of their belongings.

However, consumer affairs centers received more than 100 consultations about these businesses a year between fiscal 2013 and fiscal 2021, according to the Consumer Affairs Agency.

In some cases, the business operators went bankrupt, but they have not returned deposited money to customers.

One person who wanted to cancel a contract said the amount of refund was unsatisfactory.

Another person said a business operator has not returned the bankbook and seal that it kept for receiving the customer’s pension.

No single government organ currently oversees these private-sector services, and there is little communication among ministries and agencies about the businesses.

“We will create a framework where people can receive personal reference and other support from private-sector businesses with a sense of security,” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said when he visited Tokyo’s Toshima Ward office on Aug. 7.

Those living alone accounted for 35.6 percent of residents 65 or older in the ward, the highest figure among cities and wards nationwide, according to a 2020 census.

Experts said problems occur because it is difficult to choose an appropriate service from among the plethora of options available. They also said the contracts tend to be complicated, and money for post-death services is often required in advance.

In early August, a group of lawmakers from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party called on Kishida to establish guidelines for the industry, among other steps.

“There is no framework for the industry, and businesses are left unregulated,” said Yoko Kamikawa, a former justice minister and a key member of the group.

The internal affairs ministry also said businesses that responded to its survey asked the government to compile guidelines, create a registration and regulation system that keeps out substandard operators, and introduce surveillance by government authorities.

“Some types of regulations, such as those by law, are needed,” an official at the prime minister’s office said.

In late August, the welfare ministry started a separate survey that is said to be more detailed than the one conducted by the internal affairs ministry.

The Cabinet Secretariat will coordinate discussions on government responses because the problem involves issues that fall under the jurisdictions of different ministries and agencies.

According to the internal affairs ministry survey released in early August, 21.2 percent of operators that received contract fees or membership fees had no written provisions for refunds.

Of the 204 businesses that responded to the survey, 61.1 percent had fewer than six employees, and 83.8 percent started operating within the past 10 years.

(This article was written by Akiyoshi Abe and Shinichi Sekine.)

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