The New Judicial Interpretation declares that "recognition upon receipt" is invalid, and "returns without reason within seven days" are improved -
say no to the "overlord clause" of e-commerce
In response to the chaos of online consumption, the Supreme People's Court recently issued the "Regulations of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Internet Consumption Dispute Cases (I)", which came into force on March 15.
The "Regulations" mainly make clear provisions on the rights and obligations of online consumption contracts, the identification of responsible subjects, the civil responsibilities of live broadcast marketing, and the civil responsibilities of takeaway catering.
Since March 15, the "Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Online Consumer Dispute Cases (1)" came into effect.
Article 1 of the Judicial Interpretation is clear at the outset, directly declaring that the five types of "overlord clauses" that have been repeatedly prohibited are invalid, including that the consignee's receipt of the goods is deemed to recognize the quality of the goods as agreed; the responsibilities that the e-commerce platform enterprises should bear according to law are all within the platform. E-commerce bears; E-commerce has the right of unilateral or final interpretation; excludes or restricts consumers' right to seek legal remedies; other exclusions or limitations of consumers' rights, reduction or exemption of e-commerce responsibilities, and aggravation of consumer responsibilities will not affect consumers. Fair and unreasonable content.
Liu Junhai, a professor at the School of Law of Renmin University of China, said that in view of the variety of overlord clauses in the online world, the fifth category of bottom-line clauses has sufficient deterrent effect and is helpful to combat all kinds of abuse of standard clauses and violations of public order and good customs in online consumption.
"Online consumption has the characteristics of diversification of transaction subjects, virtualized transaction environment, trans-regional transaction space, and contract formatting. In the process of formulating judicial interpretations, attention should be paid to grasping the laws and formulating judicial rules that conform to the characteristics of online consumption." The Supreme People's Court Zheng Xuelin, president of the First Civil Tribunal, said that the judicial interpretation adheres to the problem-oriented approach, making clear provisions on the rights and obligations of online consumption contracts, the identification of responsible subjects, live broadcast marketing, and civil liability for take-out catering and other aspects, and unifying the judgment scale.
When consumers encounter the unfair and unreasonable "overlord terms" of e-commerce when shopping online, they can confidently say "no".
For transactions on second-hand commodity online trading platforms, if the rights and interests of buyers are damaged, can the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests be applied to require sellers to bear the responsibility of operators?
The Supreme Court also released a number of typical cases to interpret the law by case.
In one case, the consumer saw the information on the sale of "a well-known brand wireless headset" from the second-hand commodity online trading platform, and paid for the order after confirming with the seller that it was a brand new official product.
After receiving the goods, the consumer discovered that the product was a counterfeit product.
The court found out that the "second-hand goods" sold by the seller were indeed counterfeit products, and the seller had sold more than 40 wireless earphones of the same style on a second-hand goods online trading platform in a short period of time, with a transaction amount of more than 50,000 yuan.
Accordingly, the court determined that the seller's behavior was a commercial business operation, which constituted sales fraud, and assumed the responsibility of the operator in accordance with the Consumer Rights and Interests Protection Law.
"Sellers who have undergone commercial registration are of course operators, and sellers who have not undergone commercial registration but actually carry out commercial activities are also operators." Liu Junhai said, in order to accurately lock the responsibility of second-hand goods in online consumption and regulate the exercise of discretion, the judicial interpretation It is required that when the judge determines whether the seller is engaged in commercial operations, it should comprehensively consider the nature, source, quantity, price, frequency, and whether there are other sales channels and income of the goods it sells.
In addition, the Judicial Interpretation clarifies that e-commerce operators shall not claim that the seven-day no-reason return system is not applicable on the grounds that the products have been unpacked, and that contracts for false publicity by fictitious transactions, fictitious clicks, and fabricated user reviews are invalid. Market entities regulate their operations.
In recent years, the online live broadcast e-commerce industry has developed rapidly, and it is common to sell and promote food in live broadcast rooms, including prepackaged food and bulk food, as well as some home-made food.
According to the provisions of the Food Safety Law, where online food operators should obtain a license according to law, the platform provider should review their license.
"If the live broadcast marketing platform operators fail to check the qualifications of food operators, the risk of consumers facing potential food safety hazards will be greatly increased." Liu Min, deputy chief judge of the Supreme People's Court, said that the judicial interpretation stipulates that online live broadcast marketing If the platform operator fails to fulfill the statutory review obligations for the food business qualifications of the online live broadcast room, which damages the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, it shall bear joint and several liability with the live broadcast room operator.
"Of course, the object of the review is the live broadcast room that needs to obtain a food business license according to law."
Our reporter Li Wanxiang