[Economic Observation] What's new in the new version of the "Three Guarantees for Automobiles"?
Recently, the State Administration for Market Regulation announced the "Regulations on Responsibilities for the Repair, Replacement and Return of Household Auto Products" (hereinafter referred to as the new "Three Guarantees for Automobiles"), which will come into effect on January 1, 2022.
As a specific regulation to protect the legitimate rights and interests of automobile consumers, the regulation aroused heated public opinion as soon as it was released.
According to industry insiders, this regulation has undergone substantial revisions on the basis of the "Regulations on Responsibilities for Repair, Replacement, and Return of Household Car Products" that came into effect in October 2013, and has strengthened the protection of consumers' legitimate rights and interests. , And put forward more stringent requirements for the three guarantees of responsibility for operators, which will help force auto companies and dealers to continuously improve product quality and service levels.
Chen Yinjiang, deputy secretary-general of the China Consumer Law Research Association, pointed out that in the nearly six months since the new regulations have been issued but have not yet taken effect, auto manufacturers, sellers, and repairers should complete the transformation as soon as possible in accordance with the new regulations and achieve legal compliance as soon as possible. Operating.
From the perspective of consumers, they should also learn more about the content of the new regulations and safeguard their legitimate rights and interests in accordance with laws and regulations.
What's new in the new version of the "Three Guarantees for Automobiles"?
The first "new" is expansion.
With the development of the new energy vehicle industry, some issues closely related to the interests of consumers continue to appear, and the original relevant regulations can no longer protect the rights and interests of these new energy vehicle owners.
To this end, the new version of the "Automotive Three Guarantees Regulations" has added provisions related to new energy vehicles, including the quality issues of special components such as power batteries and driving motors into the three guarantees for return and exchange of vehicles.
At the same time, the implementation of three guarantees for household pickup trucks protects the rights and interests of pickup truck consumers and promotes the rapid development of the pickup truck industry; the main components of the family vehicle pollution control device are included in the return and exchange clauses for major quality issues, and the pollution of motor vehicles is increased. Control efforts.
The second "new" is to increase the protection of consumers' legitimate rights and interests, and put forward stricter requirements on the three guarantees of responsibility for operators.
The new regulations clarify that, within 7 days from the date of validity of the Three Guarantees, if a family car needs to replace the engine, transmission, traction battery, driving motor or its main components due to quality problems, the seller shall follow the consumer’s choice It is free to exchange or return the car.
In the eyes of industry insiders, the addition of a 7-day refundable clause is a big breakthrough.
This will play a supervisory role for automobile manufacturers, strengthen their quality responsibilities, and pay more attention to product quality in the manufacturing process.
At the same time, the new version of the "Three Guarantees for Automobiles" also clarifies that when sellers return and exchange cars for consumers, they should compensate consumers for losses such as vehicle registration fees, additional decoration fees, and related service fees; further reduce consumers by reducing the use compensation coefficient. The use compensation fee paid to the seller when the car is returned; the manufacturer is required to clearly indicate the attenuation limit of the power battery capacity of the household pure electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles on the three-guarantee certificate, for consumers to refer to when purchasing the vehicle.
In addition, the new regulations also reduce the limited conditions for replacement of the same quality problem for more than 5 times or the cumulative repair time of the whole vehicle for more than 35 days during the validity period of the three guarantees to 4 times and 30 days; it stipulates that manufacturers, sellers, Operators such as repairers shall not restrict consumers from choosing enterprises to maintain and maintain family car products, and use this as a reason for refusing to assume three guarantees; repairers who can verify the purchase information when performing the three guarantees shall be exempted from consumption The obligation to provide the three guarantee certificate; if the consumer loses the three guarantee certificate, the seller shall reissue it in time for free, etc.
The third "new" is to further improve the relevant regulatory system in response to the development and changes of the family car three-guarantee work.
The new version of the "Automotive Three Guarantees Regulations" strengthens the quality responsibility of manufacturers, requiring manufacturers not to deliberately delay or refuse without justified reasons the assistance, recovery and other matters proposed by sellers or repairers; increase penalties for illegal acts, and prevent deliberate delays or failures. Operators who refuse to assume the three guarantees responsibility for legitimate reasons will be clearly punished in accordance with the relevant provisions of Article 56 of the Consumer Rights Protection Law of the People’s Republic of China; learn from international practices and encourage relevant organizations to establish family car three guarantees dispute settlement The mechanism facilitates the use of third-party professional resources to provide consumers with fair, professional, convenient and efficient three packs of dispute resolution services for free, while reducing administrative and judicial costs.