E-shoppers biggest gainers in revised consumer law
Print Edition
Online shoppers can now return the goods unconditionally for refunds within seven days of purchase but they have to shoulder logistics cost, according to a revised consumer rights law that Chinese lawmakers approved yesterday.
It was the first time that the consumer rights and interests law had been revised since it was adopted in 1993.
The revision, focused on better protecting the rights and interests of consumers, added regulations on online shopping and tightened liabilities of businesses.
One of the main principles of the revision is to boost confidence of consumers, said Jia Dongming, head of the civil law division under the Commission for Legislative Affairs of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, at a press conference yesterday.
“If people feel more secure and are more willing to spend, business will see more revenue and profit and domestic demand will expand. The whole country will benefit,” Jia said.
The revised law will take effect on March 15 next year, also World Consumer Rights Day.
One of the freshest elements of the revision is about e-commerce. The revised law for the first time regulates merchandise and service transactions through the Internet, television, phone and post.
The new law allows e-shoppers to unconditionally return goods for refunds within seven days of transaction but requires them to pay logistics costs. It also lists products not suitable for unconditional returns and refunds, such as digital products sold via downloads, audio-visual goods with the packaging removed, bespoke products, fresh and perishable goods, magazines, newspapers and software.
Consumers can seek compensation from online trading platforms if the platforms fail to provide valid contact details for vendors using their networks. After compensating consumers, the platforms are entitled to claim compensation from the vendors.
Leaking personal information of consumers has also emerged as a big problem.
“This revision has strict regulations on how operators should collect and use personal information and what punishment offenders will receive,” said Liu Junchen, deputy director of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce.
The new law requires business owners to obtain consumers’ consent and explicitly explain the purpose, form and scope of information use before collecting and using customers’ personal information. They are banned from leaking, selling or illegally providing the information while being asked to adopt necessary technical measures to ensure security of such data.
The revised law endorses higher compensation for consumers and imposes heavier fines on business owners who violate consumer rights.
If dealers deceive consumers or knowingly sell substandard products, they should not only compensate consumers for their losses, but also pay additional compensation equal to three times the cost of the goods or service, up from double in the old version of the law.
For serious cases in which consumers die or suffer serious health problems due to faulty products knowingly sold by dealers, they shall not only compensate consumers for economic and psychological losses but also pay punitive damages up to a maximum of twice the amount of the loss, according to the bill. Offenders will also be prosecuted.
For instance, if a consumer is killed because of faulty products, the death indemnity alone would be estimated to be 491,300 yuan according to current standards, and average total compensation would be at least 1.47 million yuan. The amount could be higher in more affluent areas or lower in less-developed regions.
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