Many hot issues of online transactions will usher in further regulation
Read tips
On October 20, the State Administration of Market Supervision issued the "Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Online Transactions (Draft for Comment)" to solicit public opinions.
The "Draft of Opinions" further regulates hot issues such as automatic VIP membership renewal, platforms forcing merchants to "choose one of two", and deletion of negative consumer reviews.
In addition, the definition of "sporadic small amounts", which is controversial in the industry, has also been clarified.
I originally wanted to buy a VIP membership for 1 month or 1 year, but the platform automatically renewed the fee after expiration; in order to protect their own interests, some platforms require merchants to "choose one" between themselves and competitors, and if they disagree, reduce the merchant. Ranking or search blocking; after online shopping, consumers often encounter situations where bad reviews are deleted or they cannot be displayed...
These hot issues of online transactions will usher in further regulation.
On October 20, the State Administration for Market Regulation drafted the "Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Online Transactions (Draft for Solicitation of Comments)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Draft for Comments") and publicly solicited opinions from the public.
It is worth mentioning that the "Draft of Opinions" also clearly defines "sporadic small amounts".
Consumers should be clearly reminded before "automatic renewal"
After purchasing a VIP member, "being automatically renewed" is the main reason consumers are dissatisfied with the paid membership model.
According to a survey conducted by the Jiangsu Provincial Consumer Protection Committee, 24 apps that consumers use frequently on a daily basis have automatic renewal functions.
Among them, 21 samples set automatic renewal as a priority option, accounting for 87.5% of all experience samples.
Only 3 have not set automatic renewal as a priority option.
In addition, 12 of the 24 samples are equipped with a trial function. In 8 samples, once the user chooses the trial, it is equal to the default selection of automatic renewal, accounting for 33.33% of the total number of samples.
The survey also showed that after the automatic renewal was successful, 17 of the 24 samples were deducted without notification, and users often only got the deduction information through third-party platforms.
These samples involve Tencent Video, Sohu, Tudou, Baofeng Yingyin, Netease Cloud Music, Xiami Music, Palm Reading, Migu Reading, Zhihu, Get, Blockbuster, Xiaoying, Baidu Netdisk, WPS, Tencent Weiyun, Dragonfly FM, etc.
Regarding this situation, the "Draft Opinions" pointed out that if online transaction operators adopt automatic extensions, automatic renewals, and other non-active contracting methods involving consumers to provide services, they should remind consumers to pay attention in a significant way.
Where consumers independently choose the relevant method, the online transaction operator shall provide consumers with a significant, free and simple option to cancel or change the relevant method at any time during the entire service period, and pay a significant amount 5 days before the date of extension or renewal. Ways to remind consumers to pay attention.
Treat platform operators carefully to delete evaluation permissions
In the process of online shopping, the word-of-mouth of the business has become an important reference for people to choose a product or service. The number of bad reviews and the description of the bad reviews often affect the final decision of consumers.
However, in recent years, consumers have often encountered situations in which bad reviews are deleted or cannot be displayed.
In this regard, the "Draft Opinions" pointed out that online trading operators must not misleadingly display evaluations by deleting, concealing, modifying evaluations and other improper handling methods.
Some people believe that in reality, some malicious bad reviews and insults and slander and other harmful information affect the normal business activities of operators, and the platform should be allowed to delete malicious bad reviews.
In this regard, the person in charge of the Internet Transaction Supervision and Administration Department of the State Administration for Market Regulation stated that this issue is clearly required in Article 39 of the Electronic Commerce Law, and the provision of “not to delete evaluations” does not add any exceptions. The full picture of the "evaluation" of the goods sold or the services provided is presented to fully realize the institutional function of credit restraint.
The right to delete malicious bad reviews and insulting and slanderous information mentioned by related companies in practice face the problem that it is difficult for platform operators to judge and verify whether they are malicious or bad.
In addition, in practice, if platform operators apply for deletion due to false evaluations, the actual deletion rate is less than 5%.
Therefore, the person in charge stated that he insisted on treating the issue of platform operators' deletion of evaluation authority with caution.
The "Draft of Opinions" stipulates that the platform may technically process information contained in consumer reviews that are prohibited by laws and administrative regulations from being published or transmitted.
The platform must not abuse its dominant position
In recent years, some online trading platforms have taken advantage of the relatively dominant position formed by the operators on the platform in terms of their high degree of operational dependence, and unreasonably restricted the cooperation between the operators on the platform and other platforms.
This is called the "two-choice one" issue by public opinion, and continues to arouse the attention of all sectors of society.
The "Draft Opinions" pointed out that online trading platform operators must not abuse their dominant position to interfere with the autonomous operation of the operators on the platform, and must not impose unreasonable restrictions or impose unreasonable conditions on the commercial cooperation between the operators on the platform and other platforms.
In addition, the "Draft Opinions" is based on regulatory practices, focusing on the platform's dominant position, the right of autonomous operation of the operators within the platform, and the principle of voluntary and equal consultation to regulate this issue.
It mainly clarifies matters related to the establishment or change of exclusive business partnerships between the platform and the operators on the platform, which should be clearly agreed in writing, and the platform must not force the operators on the platform to accept.
"Small amounts" have criteria
The reporter noticed that the e-commerce law stipulates that “sporadic small transactions” are exempt from registration of market entities, but it does not clarify the meaning and scope of sporadic small transactions, which is controversial in the industry.
The relevant person in charge of the Network Transaction Supervision and Administration Department of the State Administration for Market Regulation stated that the Legal Work Committee of the National People's Congress authorized the State Administration for Market Regulation to study and formulate relevant judgment standards.
The person in charge said that after repeated research, "sporadic small amounts" includes two conceptual elements of "sporadic" and "small amounts", and the relationship between the two should be "and".
If understood as "or", it includes "sporadic but large" transactions (such as sporadic sales of gold jewelry, luxury goods, etc.) and "small but not sporadic" transactions (such as a single product of 9.9 yuan mobile phone case in a large online store Annual sales can reach one million pieces). Exemption from registration for the above two types of operators obviously does not meet the basic requirements of maintaining the security of online transactions and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of consumers. It will also bring about many problems such as online and offline discriminatory management treatment. .
According to reports, the "Draft Opinions" follows the legislative intent of "sporadic small-value transactions are, to a certain extent, supplementary personal expenses, occasional and non-continuous transactions", and adopts "clear and unified number of transactions + regional differentiation". "Transaction amount" determination framework.
The "Draft Opinions" clarified that "sporadic small transactions" means that network transaction operators do not exceed 52 transactions per year and their annual transaction volume does not exceed the average annual salary of urban private sector employees in the province, autonomous region, or municipality of the previous year.
Where the same operator opens multiple online stores on the same platform or on different platforms, the annual number of transactions and annual transaction volume of each online store shall be combined.
Yang Zhaokui