The new takeaway regulations will implement passive meals on April 1st, so don't swallow it anymore
Every 11 o'clock at noon, many office workers will open the food delivery platform App on time, check the reviews, compare the discounts, and choose a suitable lunch for themselves... Takeaway has become an important channel for everyone to solve their personal dietary problems, but when faced with problems such as When there are problems such as "the takeaway tastes very strange", "there is a problem with the food, but the takeaway shop does not admit it", most of them choose to give a negative review and then no longer pursue it.
According to the 49th "Statistical Report on the Development of China's Internet" released by the China Internet Network Center (CNNIC), as of December 2021, the number of users of food delivery in my country has reached 544 million.
However, most of these users are not familiar with the management standards of the food delivery industry, nor are they familiar with the legal provisions of food safety.
Even though many people have had unpleasant dining experiences, the time, money and other costs of defending their rights make them choose to settle down...
However, the "Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Internet Consumption Dispute Cases (I)" came into effect on March 15, and the "Guidelines for the Safety Management of Online Catering Services" issued by the Beijing Municipal Administration for Market Regulation will also be Implemented on April 1, 2022.
For the four common problems in takeaway consumption, you can defend your rights like this!
Scenario 1: Being spat on during takeout
Mr. Li found that the take-out meal box was different, so he complained to the platform. After investigation, it was found that the takeaway was dissatisfied because the customer refused to put the take-out food in the elevator. He opened the meal box and spit in it. The platform said that the take-out had been delivered The staff warned and compensated Mr. Li with a red envelope of 10 yuan, which Mr. Li said was unacceptable.
Li Lihua, assistant judge of Beijing Chaoyang Court, introduced that the "Internet Catering Service Catering Safety Management Specification" stipulates the packaging requirements, including the use of take-out packaging seals or disposable sealing outer packaging bags and other sealing methods. The mouth should not be able to be restored after opening; the outer packaging should not be opened during the distribution process, and the distribution should be terminated if food contamination occurs; during loading and unloading, the doors and covers of the distribution equipment and facilities should be opened and closed at the same time.
When ordering take-out, you should also pay attention to the hygiene of the food delivery. After receiving the take-out food, you should first check whether the food packaging is in good condition and clean, whether the delivered food is consistent with the ordered food, and check whether the food is contaminated in person. Once the food is found to be contaminated , can be rejected.
Before the takeaway food is successfully delivered to the consumer, the merchant is obliged to deliver the food completely and safely to the consumer, so the consumer can ask the merchant to provide the takeaway food that meets the food safety and hygiene standards again, or ask the merchant for a full refund .
After the merchant refunds or redoes the food to the consumer, if there is evidence to prove that the food delivery person actually damaged the food during the delivery, the merchant can request the delivery person to compensate for the corresponding losses in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Civil Code on infringement.
In addition, the deliveryman spit on the customer's food, which is personally insulting and affects the safety and hygiene of the food. The customer can make the relevant infringing subject such as the deliveryman or businessman bear the corresponding infringement liability.
Scenario 2: Quantity is not as expected
Ms. Zhang ordered take-out on a take-out platform. After receiving the goods, she used her own electronic scale to weigh it and found that the amount of take-out was less than half. After negotiating with the merchant, the merchant refunded half of the price to Ms. Zhang.
Li Lihua said that the "Internet Catering Service Catering Safety Management Specification" stipulates that the platform should truthfully and accurately publish transaction-related information such as photos, prices, weights, specifications or the number of people recommended to eat dishes provided by catering service providers.
Prompt information about anti-food waste should be marked in the appropriate position on the page, such as "saving food" and "ordering food in moderation".
However, when you open the takeaway platform, you can see that the takeaway merchants have marked the specifications, reference weights, tastes, recommended number of consumers and other information on the food browsing page, but the food received by consumers after placing the order is sometimes different from the product promotion page The marked weights vary, and may even vary greatly.
In this case, consumers should keep consumption vouchers, keep transaction records, keep the food in its original state, and fix the evidence by taking photos, video recordings, etc.
If the merchant constitutes fraud, it can also request additional compensation for the losses suffered by itself in accordance with Article 55 of the "Consumer Rights Protection Law of the People's Republic of China". times, and if the amount is less than 500 yuan, it shall be 500 yuan.
Li Lihua said that the takeaways delivered by the merchants had serious shortages, which constituted fraud, and Ms. Zhang had the right to claim punitive damages.
Scenario 3: The taste is worse than dine-in
Mr. Wu ordered a cup of pearl milk tea through a takeaway platform. When tasting it, Mr. Wu found that the taste of the milk tea was not good, which was inconsistent with the taste of dine-in. It was found that there was a stone with a diameter of 0.7cm in the milk tea.
Mr. Wu claimed to the merchant. For Mr. Wu's rights protection, the merchant said that he could only make compensation in the form of red envelopes.
Li Lihua introduced that the "Internet Catering Service Catering Safety Management Specification" stipulates that the quality and safety of food supplied through online catering services should be consistent with dine-in.
Online catering service providers shall provide food-related information such as food preparation time and recommended consumption time limit with meals.
Online catering service providers should make food according to online orders. Foods in the same order should be produced at the same time. If they cannot be produced at the same time, they should arrange the order of meals reasonably, and produce the food that is easy to store first.
Food should be packaged and distributed immediately after being prepared. The temporary storage time of perishable food that needs to be temporarily stored should not exceed 1 hour.
Consumers should check the sensory properties when receiving the take-out. If the received take-out food only has different natural taste due to the delivery time and take-out packaging, and there is no product quality problem or potential safety hazard, the merchant does not need to take responsibility. .
If it is found that the appearance of the food is abnormal and there are safety problems such as spoilage, it should actively protect its own rights.
The "Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China" stipulates that in the production of food that does not meet food safety standards or the operation of food that does not meet food safety standards, consumers may, in addition to claiming compensation for losses, also demand payment of the price from the producer or operator. times or three times the amount of damages; if the amount of increased compensation is less than 1,000 yuan, it shall be 1,000 yuan.
However, the labels and instructions of food have defects that do not affect food safety and do not mislead consumers.
Li Lihua said that the presence of stones in the milk tea poses a serious threat to Mr. Wu's safety, and Mr. Wu can claim compensation.
Li Lihua pointed out that what needs to be reminded for consumers in similar situations is that in the process of dispute resolution, consumers need to provide evidence for the existence of foreign bodies in the food before consumption, otherwise they may bear the consequences of losing the lawsuit due to inability to provide evidence.
Therefore, once a foreign body is found, evidence must be retained throughout the process, and methods such as taking videos, photos, and finding witnesses will help to find out the facts.
However, if it is verified that the foreign object is put in by the buyer to make a malicious claim, it may constitute extortion, and in serious cases, it may even violate the criminal law and be held criminally responsible.
Scenario 4: Encounter a "ghost merchant" when ordering food
After eating takeaway food ordered from a certain platform, Ms. Zhao felt unwell and was sent to the hospital, incurring a large amount of medical expenses.
After the merchant heard about the incident, they quickly moved out of the offline store.
Later, Ms. Zhao's family sued the merchant according to the information registered on the platform, and found that the address on file was inconsistent with the actual business address, and the relevant licenses were forged.
Ms. Zhao advocated that the platform should take responsibility, but the platform refused.
Li Lihua said that the "Internet Catering Service Catering Safety Management Specification" stipulates that third-party platforms should not only review and display relevant qualification certificates such as the licenses of online catering service providers, but also review and display the basic situation of online catering service providers' physical stores. Including the name, brand, address, etc., and displaying photos indicating the identity of the store, such as the facade, door head, plaque or LOGO, sales desk, etc., to strengthen the platform's audit responsibility.
The "Supreme People's Court Regulations on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Online Consumption Dispute Cases (I)" stipulates that the operators of online catering service platforms violate the provisions of the Food Safety Law by failing to register their real names, examine licenses for online catering service providers, or The people's court shall support the consumer's claim that the operator of the online catering service platform and the online catering service provider shall bear joint and several liability for failing to perform the obligations of reporting and stopping the provision of online trading platform services, which damages the legitimate rights and interests of consumers.
The food operated by the online catering service provider damages the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, and the consumer claims that the online catering service provider assumes the responsibility of the operator.
Li Lihua believes that Ms. Zhao's experience is not accidental. In real life, consumers often encounter "ghost merchants" when ordering takeout. The license of the restaurant has expired, the food business license has not been obtained, the license information has not been publicized, and the scope has exceeded the limit. Problems such as operation, non-existence of store addresses, and unlicensed operations of offline entities are often reported in the newspapers. Many pure takeaway stores are hidden in corners and corners, which have become the hardest hit areas for frequent food safety problems.
In addition, some platforms have set up barriers for consumers to query the qualification information of takeaway merchants. On the mini programs and apps of relevant e-commerce platforms, there are some takeaway merchants whose business licenses and food business licenses have not been publicized, and the qualification query link cannot be opened or publicized. Problems such as the low degree of information identification not only affect consumers' judgment on whether a merchant is a "ghost merchant", but also make it more difficult to identify the infringing subject for rights protection after encountering such a "ghost merchant".
This not only reflects the problems of takeaway merchants, but also the problems of the service platform itself.
In order to avoid the above problems, Li Lihua reminded that consumers should choose a formal catering service unit when ordering take-out, order food from a take-out restaurant with a valid "Food Business License" or "Catering Service License", and choose a physical store. Do not order takeaway food of unknown origin, and consciously boycott "black takeout".
When encountering takeaway "ghost merchants" and suffering damage and failing to negotiate on their own, they can request the online catering service provider (merchant) to communicate with the Catering service platform operators (platforms) are jointly liable for compensation.
If the platform fails to fulfill its audit obligations, it should compensate Ms. Zhao for her losses.
Li Lihua emphasized that if there is a dispute over the takeaway issue and the negotiation fails, attention should be paid to the fixed evidence when the lawsuit is brought to the court.
First, keep electronic orders and payment vouchers to prove the existence of a contractual relationship between the two parties; second, keep traces throughout the process, take videos and photos, carve the videos and photos into CDs, and show the original carrier in the lawsuit to prove the existence of take-out food Quality problems; in addition, it is also possible to further prove the problems of takeaway food by keeping communication records with takeaway merchants, looking for witnesses, etc.
Text / reporter Song Xia