Keeping pace with the times and weaving a dense consumer rights protection network
2024-06-26
Protecting consumer rights is a systematic project and a shared responsibility of the entire society. In addition to keeping up with the times and weaving a dense legal protection network, it is also necessary to form a joint governance system that combines business compliance, industry self-discipline, consumer participation, government regulation, and social supervision. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the implementation of the Consumer Rights Protection Law, and the accompanying administrative regulations - the revised Implementation Regulations of the Consumer Rights Protection Law (hereinafter referred to as the "Regulations") will be officially implemented from July 1st. In order to further enhance the awareness of integrity and law-abiding among business operators and the ability of consumers to protect their rights in accordance with the law, various regions have recently organized publicity and implementation activities of the Regulations to promote and popularize relevant legal knowledge to the general public. The Regulations comply with new trends in economic and social development, and address new changes in consumption scenarios, consumption methods, infringement issues, and demand for rights protection. They have made more detailed and operational provisions in strengthening consumer safety and addressing difficulties in rights protection. In particular, targeted provisions have been made for new formats and issues such as live streaming e-commerce, timely responding to social concerns and providing strong legal guarantees for the standardized development of new formats and sustainable economic and social development. In recent years, the live streaming e-commerce industry has developed rapidly and played an important role in promoting flexible employment and serving economic development. However, as a new type of online business model, live streaming e-commerce involves many business entities and complex legal relationships, and the relevant laws and regulations are not clear and specific enough, which has led to a rapid growth of consumer disputes in live streaming e-commerce. According to data, the size of the live streaming e-commerce market has increased by 10.5 times in the past five years, and the number of complaints and reports on live streaming sales has also increased year by year, with a growth rate of up to 47.1 times over the past five years. The annual report on the protection of consumer rights in China (2023) released by the China Consumers Association recently pointed out that some platforms have prominent issues with consumer rights protection, such as data fraud, vulgar "product promotion", and inducing private transactions. This indicates that new formats such as live streaming e-commerce urgently need to be further regulated. The essence of live streaming e-commerce is still the business behavior of selling goods or services through online live streaming, but this business behavior is completed by multiple different entities such as platform operators, live broadcast room operators, sales merchants, and anchors. In reality, many consumers have reported that the products they buy do not match the information provided by the anchor. When they cannot find the actual selling merchant, seeking help from the anchor for rights protection is blocked, and seeking platform assistance is also refused to provide information about the anchor or live broadcast room on the grounds of personal information protection, leading to a deadlock in rights protection. In this regard, the Regulations have made various provisions, such as requiring live streaming marketing platform operators to establish and improve consumer rights protection systems, and clarify consumer dispute resolution mechanisms; If operators provide goods or services through the internet, television, telephone, mail order, etc., they shall prominently indicate or explain their true name and markings on their homepage, video images, voice, product catalog, etc. These regulations mean that in the future, live streaming e-commerce platforms cannot use entertainment social platforms as a shield. As long as the platform provides live marketing services, it must bear the responsibility of platform operators in accordance with the law and provide necessary rights protection information for consumers in accordance with the law. The live broadcast room should also clearly state "who is selling" and "whose goods are being sold". If the live broadcast room does not indicate in a way that is sufficient for consumers to distinguish that it is not a seller, nor does it indicate the actual seller's name, consumers can demand that the live broadcast room assume the responsibility of the seller when encountering problems. It can be said that the Regulations further clarify the responsibilities of online live streaming marketing platforms and related operators, which is of great practical significance for regulating the business behavior of live streaming e-commerce and safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of consumers. The new business model is not beyond the law. While regulating live streaming e-commerce, the Regulations have made specific provisions for many new issues in new business models and formats. For example, in response to the highly concerned issue of "killing off" big data, it is clear that operators are not allowed to set different prices or charging standards for the same product or service under the same transaction conditions without the knowledge of consumers; In response to the highly covert issue of "automatic renewal", it is stipulated that operators who provide services through automatic renewal and other means should prominently draw the attention of consumers before they receive the service and before the date of automatic renewal. These regulations set compliance operating red lines for operators, allowing them to know where the boundaries lie and what can and cannot be done. At the same time, it also provides strong enforcement basis for regulatory authorities. In summary, the promulgation of the Regulations provides more comprehensive and specific regulatory support for protecting consumer rights, further solidifying the legal foundation of consumer rights protection. Protecting consumer rights is a systematic project and a shared responsibility of the entire society. In addition to continuously improving legislation and keeping up with the times to weave a dense legal protection network, it is also necessary to form a joint governance system that combines business compliance, industry self-discipline, consumer participation, government regulation, and social supervision. We look forward to all sectors of society actively promoting the effective implementation of the Regulations, with everyone participating, and jointly creating a more honest and law-abiding consumption environment, boosting consumer confidence, stimulating consumer potential, and promoting sustained and healthy economic development. (Author Chen Yinjiang, Deputy Secretary General of the Consumer Rights Protection Law Research Association of the China Law Society)
Edit：Ying Ying Responsible editor：Shen Chen
Source：http://www.legaldaily.com.cn
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