Sun Jie, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference: It is proposed to include network mutual assistance within the regulatory framework of the Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission

The Paper's reporter Hu Zhiting

The regulatory issues of the network mutual aid industry have attracted much attention from all walks of life.

On March 3, The Paper learned from Sun Jie, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and a researcher at the National Institute of Opening Up of the University of International Business and Economics, that she will bring a proposal on strengthening the supervision and management of online mutual aid platforms at this year's national "two sessions".

Sun Jie believes that network mutual aid has a very important social management function. It can effectively prevent poverty caused by illness and return to poverty due to illness, become a useful supplementary force for the health security system, significantly reduce the economic burden and economic loss of sick families; it is an effective supplement to commercial insurance, covering middle- and low-income residents, so that these seriously ill and vulnerable people have more protection; it is conducive to the digital transformation and upgrading of China's health security field.

However, there are still many problems in the current development of the network mutual aid industry. Sun Jie pointed out that in the development of the network mutual aid industry, there are four major problems, such as lack of supervision, low entry threshold, uneven quality of industry platforms, and the need to standardize capital management.

At present, the network mutual aid industry is in a regulatory blank area, there is no clear competent unit, and the corresponding laws and regulations, administrative rules, supervision and inspection are also lagging behind. In terms of access thresholds, the network mutual aid platform is generally a technology company, which has the nature of insurance but does not belong to the insurance company. The low entry threshold of the industry has led to various irregularities in the industry such as various types of exaggerated publicity under the guise of insurance and insurance terms.

In addition, the network mutual aid industry platform is uneven, and some network mutual aid platforms may have problems such as uncontrolled development of member scale, poor stability of the platform itself, and arbitrary withdrawal. Moreover, whether it is pre-payment or which model the user chooses to withhold, the amount of funds involved is huge, and the fund management norms are issues that need to be paid attention to in the field of network mutual assistance.

In this regard, she put forward four suggestions:

First of all, it is proposed to include network mutual assistance within the regulatory framework of the Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission. Network mutual aid and insurance have a certain degree of convergence and complementarity. The CBRC has rich experience in insurance supervision, and under the supervision and management of the CBIRC, it is more conducive to further legalization of the network mutual aid platform, the implementation of fair competition, and the protection of the legitimate rights and interests of consumers.

Second, accelerate the legislation of the network mutual aid industry. Determine the rights, obligations and codes of conduct of entities related to network mutual assistance in the form of legislation as soon as possible, including implementing access system management for service platforms, issuing certificates and publicizing qualified platforms, and supervising the operation of service platforms. Establish targeted mechanisms for pursuing the responsibility of network mutual aid platforms, employing punitive measures such as fines, ordering rectification, suspending or shutting down platforms, and revoking certificates for platforms that do not operate in a standardized manner. Through industry legislation, set up a standardized market operation mechanism, establish and improve the platform access standard system and post-evaluation review system, and achieve the stable, healthy and long-term development of the industry.

Third, before the legislative conditions are ripe, under the guidance of the Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, the industry association can take the lead in building unified rules for the industry, forming an industry NGO organization, standardizing business behavior, making up for the shortcomings of the system, and promoting the healthy development of the industry. It is recommended that the industry association take the lead and set a certain entry threshold for the operators of the network mutual aid platform who intend to apply to join the NGO to ensure that they have sufficient capabilities to ensure the continuous and stable operation of the platform.

For the first batch of network mutual aid platforms to join the organization, Sun Jie believes that it should carefully consider whether it has the ability to operate steadily, and suggests setting an entry threshold from three aspects: (1) the actual operating time of the platform should meet certain requirements; (2) the actual controller and executives of the platform should have specific qualifications; (3) the platform needs to have a certain user scale.

Fourth, establish a sound fund supervision system. It is recommended that the Chinese Bank supervise the funds involved in the network mutual aid platform, and set certain fund management requirements for the network mutual aid platform, including establishing and improving the fund management system, etc., to effectively prevent potential financial risks and ensure the reasonable application of the network mutual aid platform mutual aid fund.

Editor-in-Charge: Zheng Jingxin

Proofreader: Yan Zhang