On April 9, the Information Office of the State Council held a regular briefing on the policies of the State Council, introducing 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"). At the meeting, with the development of online consumption and platform economy, such as false marketing, "big data killing", automatic renewal, and difficulty in refunding, Liu Jun, deputy director of the State Administration for Market Regulation, said that the "Regulations" have made five new provisions for the problems existing in online consumption, including prohibiting "swiping orders and speculating on credit", prohibiting "forced tie-ins", prohibiting "big data killing", standardizing "automatic renewal", and ensuring "no reason to return".
Liu Jun pointed out that as of the end of last year, there were more than 900 million online shopping users in mainland China, more than 500 million online travel booking users, and online retail sales of physical goods accounted for 27.6% of the total retail sales of consumer goods.
To this end, the "Regulations" stipulate that, first, it is forbidden to "swipe orders and speculate 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 shall mark the goods that are not applicable to no-reason returns, prompting consumers to confirm at the time of purchase, and shall not be used as an option for consumers' tacit consent. At the same time, without the consumer's confirmation, the return of goods without reason shall not be refused.
END
Author: Wang Hejia
Editor-in-charge/layout: Wang Yurong
Reviewer: Wang Tao, Mei Yaxin
Producer: Liu Qicheng
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