(Economic Observer) E-commerce "choose one" problem unsolved experts call for perfect legal supervision

　　China News Service, Beijing, September 18 (Reporter Chen Su) In recent years, the problem of "choosing one of the two" in e-commerce has occurred frequently.

A new e-commerce platform, Ai Inventory, recently reported that a certain platform forced merchants to "choose one of two" by real-name reports, which once again pushed this issue to the forefront.

During the symposium on the second anniversary of the promulgation of the "E-Commerce Law", industry experts called for improving legal supervision and speeding up the resolution of the issue of e-commerce "choose one".

　　Due to competition between platforms, when an operator registers on two or more platforms, some e-commerce platform operators require the operators on the platform to withdraw from other platforms. In practice, this phenomenon is called "choice of two".

　　"'Choose one of the two' has an impact on fair competition and consumers' right to choose, which is not conducive to the development of healthy competition in the entire industry." said Qiu Baochang, an expert from the China Consumers Association.

　　In fact, e-commerce "choose one of two" is no longer the case. In recent years, Gome and Suning, Jingdong and Suning, Jingdong and Dangdang, Meituan and Ele.me have all had "choose one" disputes.

　　"In recent years, at the time of '6.18' and'Double 11', there will be more news about'choose one out of two', and'choose one out of two' has become a continuous fermentation event and an unavoidable issue in the e-commerce field. ." said Li Li, president of Jingdong Law Research Institute.

　　The problem of "choose one out of two" is difficult to solve because of the difficulty in defining the application of law.

Lu Laiming, director of the Business Law Research Center of Beijing Technology and Business University, said that for the issue of “choose one out of two” on e-commerce platforms, administrative enforcement has already imposed penalties in accordance with the Anti-Unfair Competition Law and the E-Commerce Law.

However, in the case of litigation between platforms on the issue of "choose one out of two" in the court, there is no judgment result yet.

　　At present, China's legal judgment on the issue of "choose one out of two" can be referred to by the "E-Commerce Law", "Anti-Unfair Competition Law" and "Anti-Monopoly Law".

But in practice, these laws also have the problems of incomplete application and difficult standards.

　　Alams, director of the Research Center for Electronic Commerce Law of the China Information Industry Development Research Institute, said that the "Anti-Monopoly Law" has many prerequisites. An important prerequisite is that it has a dominant market position. This is not for many subjects of the "two-choice" issue. Be applicable.

　　“The application process of the Anti-Monopoly Law and the Anti-Unfair Competition Law has some pre-conditions. These pre-conditions require a particularly lengthy time to analyze.” Li Li said that in comparison, the “E-Commerce Law” Based on the relationship between the platform and the operators within the platform, a relatively clear enumeration has been made, and there is no difficulty in applicability in judging the issue of "choose one out of two".

　　Article 35 of the "E-Commerce Law" stipulates that e-commerce platform operators shall not use service agreements, transaction rules, and technology to conduct any disagreements on the transactions of operators on the platform, transaction prices, and transactions with other operators. Reasonably restrict or attach unreasonable conditions, or charge unreasonable fees to operators on the platform.

　　Liu Jifeng, director of the China University of Political Science and Law Research Center for Market Regulation and Rule of Law, said that the “E-commerce Law” is more applicable to the issue of “choose one out of two”, but “unreasonable restrictions,” “unreasonable conditions,” and “unreasonable expenses” in Article 35 It is still difficult to determine in practice, and in reality there are many types of “choose one between two”, some “choose one between two” are oral, and there are also “choose one between two” in written collegiate form. Whether such “choose one between two” is illegal is also It is difficult to define and needs to be carefully sorted out.

　　Qiu Baochang said that although e-commerce platforms have the right to operate independently, they should not contravene relevant laws.

The behavior of "choose one out of two" damages consumers' right to choose freely, violates consumers' interests, and violates the principles of fair and honest operation.

　　Experts said that e-commerce platforms involve the rights and interests of tens of millions of operators and consumers. In response to the issue of “choose one out of two”, government departments should promptly improve laws, strengthen supervision, maintain market fairness, and protect market operators and consumers To create a favorable environment for China’s technological innovation and development.

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