May 2024 is the fourth "Civil Code Publicity Month" in mainland China. The Civil Code of the People's Republic of China, known as the "encyclopedia of social life", is the first law named after the code in New China, occupies a fundamental position in the legal system, and is also the basic law of the market economy. Zu Miaojun selected 10 classic cases to help the masses better understand and learn the Civil Code by explaining the law with cases.
In daily life, it is very common for friends to send red envelopes or transfer money through WeChat. However, once a dispute arises between the two parties, are the economic transactions generated by the transfer and the red envelope of the same nature?
Recently, the People's Court of Haidian District, Beijing Municipality concluded a loan dispute case, finding that there is a difference between the nature of WeChat red envelopes and transfers, red envelopes are gifts, and transfers are loans, and accordingly ordered the defendant Mr. Zhou to repay the plaintiff Ms. Liu a loan of 12,900 yuan.
Ms. Liu claimed that she met Mr. Zhou through WeChat in 2019. Soon after the two parties got to know each other, Mr. Zhou borrowed money from him on several occasions on the grounds of financial difficulties. From 2020 to 2021, Ms. Liu transferred a total of 15,669 yuan to Mr. Zhou through bank transfers, WeChat red envelopes, etc., but after repeated reminders, to no avail. In this regard, Mr. Zhou argued that the money involved in the case was not a loan, but a gift.
After trial, the court held that Ms. Liu provided funds to Mr. Zhou in two ways: WeChat red envelopes and WeChat transfers, and that the WeChat red envelopes themselves contained the meaning of "gift", and that in light of the specific circumstances of this case, Ms. Liu sent Mr. Zhou WeChat red envelopes totaling 2,769 yuan out of her support for Mr. Zhou's life, which was a gift by Ms. Liu and did not need to be repaid by Mr. Zhou.
With regard to the RMB 12,900 paid by Ms. Liu to Mr. Zhou through WeChat transfer, although Mr. Zhou argued that it was a gift, he had no evidence to prove that Ms. Liu had expressed her intention to make a gift in this regard, and considering that Mr. Zhou had borrowed money from Ms. Liu to repay the loan, the payment made by Ms. Liu to Mr. Zhou through WeChat transfer should be deemed to be a loan provided by Ms. Liu to Mr. Zhou, and Mr. Zhou should repay it.
Accordingly, the court rendered the above judgment.
"Although WeChat transfer and WeChat red envelope are both payments made through WeChat software, the nature of the two types of payment should be distinguished from the different functions and attributes of WeChat software." After the trial, the judge reminded that as a social tool, WeChat software has social functions in addition to daily communication functions, and WeChat red envelopes are a typical embodiment of the social functions of WeChat software. The upper limit of the amount set by WeChat red envelopes is 200 yuan, and it is called "red envelopes", and according to the folk customs of the mainland, the "red envelopes" are usually given voluntarily and do not need to be returned.
WeChat transfer is different from red envelopes, and does not have the meaning of "gift", it is only a payment function set by WeChat software, and it is one of the commonly used payment methods between social subjects. In this case, the plaintiff claimed the establishment of a private lending relationship through WeChat transfer, and if the defendant claimed that the nature of the money was a gift, it needed to submit relevant evidence, otherwise it would bear the adverse consequences of failing to provide evidence.
Zumiao Micro News Editorial Group
Source: China Legal Popularization Network, Legal Daily, Zumiao Street Judicial Office
Editor: Foshan News Network Yang Xiaoting
Review: He Jinting, Yang Rongyan, Wang Minghui
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