Continuously optimize the online consumption environment and effectively improve the consumer experience

CCTV Beijing, April 9 (Reporter Wang Jing) Recently, the "Regulations on the Implementation of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests" has been officially released. On the 9th, the State Council Information Office held a regular briefing on the policies of the State Council to introduce the relevant situation of the "Regulations on the Implementation of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests" (hereinafter referred to as the "Regulations").

In the next step, the State Administration for Market Regulation said that it will work with relevant departments to continuously optimize the online consumption environment and better safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of online consumers in view of the new situations and new problems that may continue to arise in online consumption.

The scene of the regular policy briefing

Aim at the overlord clause to correct a batch, investigate and deal with a batch, and expose a batch

In response to the problems encountered by netizens such as "orders are not refunded or exchanged", "registration is deemed to be agreed", and "jurisdiction is limited to local", the relevant person in charge of the Law Enforcement and Inspection Bureau of the State Administration for Market Regulation said that overlord clauses are not uncommon, which is also a stubborn bully in the consumer field, impacting fairness and justice, eroding the consumption base, and consumers hate it.

In recent years, not only have the unspoken rules of traditional services been repeatedly criticized, but new business formats such as performance booking, online travel, online entertainment, online shopping and express delivery, and medical cosmetology have become the hardest hit areas. In 2022, a survey by the China Consumers Association showed that nearly ninety percent of consumers had encountered overlord clauses. In 2023, the national 12315 platform will receive 241,000 related appeals, 3.3 times that of 2021. Small incisions involve major adjustments to rights, obligations, and liability risks. The Regulations focus on the overlord clause and refine it on the basis of the Consumer Rights Protection Law.

The Regulations stipulate that business operators shall not use standard clauses to unreasonably exempt or reduce their liabilities, increase consumers' liabilities, or restrict consumers' rights to modify or terminate contracts in accordance with the law, choose litigation or arbitration to resolve consumer disputes, or choose the goods or services of other business operators.

In 2023, the State Administration for Market Regulation promulgated the Measures for the Administrative Supervision and Administration of Contracts, which stipulates that when business operators conclude contracts with consumers using standard terms, they shall remind consumers to pay attention to the quantity, quality, price or fee of goods or services, safety precautions and risk warnings, after-sales service, civil liability, and other content that has a major interest in consumers in a conspicuous manner such as separate notice, bold font, pop-up window, etc., and explain them in accordance with consumers' requirements. The contents that must not be included in the standard clauses are also enumerated in detail.

In economic life, some refuse to cancel or charge high liquidated damages in the name of industry practice, and the number of disputes on individual performance booking platforms even ranks among the top of all enterprises in the country. Some limit consumer disputes to arbitration and eliminate other settlement methods such as complaints and lawsuits, which increases the cost of protecting consumers' rights. Some restrict consumer disputes to the jurisdiction of the court at the place where the operator is domiciled, which excludes the right of consumers to choose the place of contract performance and the place of tort litigation, and raises the threshold for consumer rights protection. In addition, "it is easy for members to apply for cards and it is difficult to return cards", "it is easy to upgrade packages", "it is easy to cancel account registration", etc., these problems have caused strong dissatisfaction among consumers and should be corrected in a timely manner.

In the next step, the relevant person in charge of the Law Enforcement Inspection Bureau of the State Administration for Market Regulation said that it will vigorously carry out the "iron fist" action in the field of people's livelihood and the special law enforcement action to protect consumption, aiming at the overlord clause, correcting a batch, investigating and punishing a batch, exposing a batch, and effectively improving the consumer experience. To further make good use of the national contract model text library, 565 kinds of contract model texts have been included, and everyone is welcome to inquire and use.

Cyberspace Administration of China: Facial recognition is an excessive collection of personal information when shopping online

According to the relevant person in charge of the Cyberspace Administration of China's Cyberspace Administration of China, Article 23 of the Regulations stipulates the obligation of operators to protect consumers' personal information. When providing goods or services, proprietors must not excessively collect consumers' personal information, and must not use methods such as one-time general authorization or tacit authorization to compel or indirectly compel consumers to consent to the collection or use of personal information that is not directly related to business activities.

"Everyone must have experienced online shopping, the basic function of online shopping is to purchase goods, the scope of necessary personal information includes: the registered user's mobile phone number, that is, our mobile phone number, the consignee's name, address, contact number, payment time, payment amount, payment channel and other payment information. If it goes beyond these, such as facial recognition, it is excessive collection and is not necessary personal information. The relevant person in charge of the Cyber Rule of Law Bureau of the Cyberspace Administration of China gave an example.

For the first time in administrative regulations, China regulates differentiated pricing: prohibiting "big data killing"

According to the statistics of relevant parties, as of the end of last year, the mainland online shopping users exceeded 900 million, online travel booking users exceeded 500 million, and the online retail sales of physical goods accounted for 27.6% of the total retail sales of consumer goods.

The relevant person in charge of the State Administration for Market Regulation said that the "Regulations" have made a series of new provisions in response to the problems existing in online consumption and in order to better protect consumers' right to know and choose.

The first is to prohibit "swiping orders and speculating on letters". Some business operators have "batch likes", "false grass planting", "fictitious evaluations", "positive feedback cashback", "deletion of bad reviews" and other behaviors, which have harmed fair competition and fair trade. The "Regulations" stipulate that business operators shall not fabricate transaction information and business data, and shall not tamper, forge or conceal user evaluations, etc., so as to prevent deception and misleading consumers.

The second is to prohibit "forced tie-ins". Some operators scan QR codes to pay for compulsory registration, online booking bundled vouchers and other behaviors, infringing on consumers' right to make their own choices. The "Regulations" stipulate that business operators shall not use technical means to compel or indirectly compel consumers to purchase goods and receive services. Where proprietors provide goods and services through methods such as collocation or combination, they shall draw the attention of consumers in a conspicuous manner.

The third is to prohibit "big data killing". As we all know, "Tong Suo is not deceived and the truth is not the same" is not only a traditional Chinese business ethics, but also the bottom line of the modern market. If business operators set discriminatory prices based on consumers' usage habits, hobbies, ability to pay, bargaining conditions, etc., it is likely to harm consumer fairness. Therefore, the "Regulations" stipulate that business operators shall not set different prices or charging standards for the same goods and services under the same transaction conditions without the knowledge of consumers. This is also the first time that our country has regulated differentiated pricing in administrative regulations.

The fourth is to standardize "automatic renewal". Nowadays, there are more and more paid members of websites and apps, some of which are discounted in the first month and high in the second month, some are checked by default and deducted without authorization, and some cannot be canceled after jumping five or six steps, so that consumers are unable to prevent it. The Regulations stipulate that the relevant business operators shall draw the attention of consumers in two conspicuous ways before they accept the service and before the automatic extension and automatic renewal, and shall also provide consumers with a significant and simple option to cancel or change at any time.

Fifth, it is guaranteed to be "no reason to return". Seven-day no-reason returns have become the standard for our online shopping, but there are still some merchants who shirk it for various reasons. The "Regulations" stipulate that business operators shall not limit the scope of statutory no-reason returns, and for goods that are not applicable to no-reason returns, they shall be marked in a conspicuous manner to remind consumers to confirm at the time of purchase, and shall not be used as an option for consumers to agree by default. At the same time, without the consumer's confirmation, the return of goods without reason shall not be refused.

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