News from our newspaper (Reporter Yang Zhaokui) Recently, "The restaurant was fined 4,500 yuan for 'reverse erasure' of 10 cents overcharge" was posted on Weibo hot searches, sparking heated discussions among the public.
The reporter learned that the restaurant involved was reported for charging consumers 0.1 yuan more for "reverse erasure".
The Dalian market supervision department in Liaoning Province determined that the restaurant constituted an illegal act of selling goods at a higher price than the marked price or charging an unmarked fee. As of the incident, it charged a total of 0.5 yuan more than the consumer price, and imposed an administrative penalty of 4,500 yuan on the restaurant.
The incident occurred on October 4 last year. Some consumers reported that after spending at a restaurant in Nanshan Fishing Village, Shahekou District, Dalian City, the actual consumption of the checkout payment was 930.9 yuan, but the restaurant charged 931 yuan.
After investigation by the Dalian Municipal Market Supervision Bureau, the restaurant did not collect the actual consumption amount when collecting the consumer's meal fee, but charged more consumption price on the grounds of rounding. The illegal act of selling goods at a price other than the marked price or charging an unmarked fee violates the relevant provisions of the Price Law.
Recently, the bureau imposed an administrative penalty of 4,500 yuan on the hotel involved.
When consumers check out, it is very common for merchants to wipe a small change.
By charging a few cents less, you can not only make up the whole package to facilitate payment, but also "build a good relationship" with customers.
But what I didn't expect was that merchants still have the operation of "reverse erasure". In recent years, similar incidents have appeared frequently.
Recently, Shenzhen Longhua District Consumer Council also received a similar complaint.
Consumers complained that a merchant violated their legitimate rights and interests by rounding up and "reverse erasing" payments.
In February this year, a supermarket in Badan Town, Binhai County, Yancheng City, Jiangsu Province was fined 1,000 yuan by the Binhai County Market Supervision Administration for "reverse erasure".
It is reported that the local market supervision department received a report from consumers, saying that the supermarket had "reverse erasure" when selling pork, and charged consumers 0.03 yuan more.
In this regard, Liu Junhai, a professor at the Law School of Renmin University of China, pointed out that according to Article 13 of the Price Law, operators who sell or purchase commodities and provide services shall clearly mark the prices in accordance with the regulations of the government's competent pricing department, indicating the name of the commodity, place of origin, Specifications, grades, pricing units, prices or service items, charging standards and other relevant information.
Operators are not allowed to sell commodities at a higher price than the marked price, and are not allowed to charge any unmarked fees.
Merchants' "reverse erasure" is a price violation of "selling goods or providing services at a higher price than the marked price".
The relevant person in charge of the Shenzhen Consumer Council pointed out that if the merchant's "reverse erasure" does not clearly inform consumers, it violates the principles of openness and good faith, and is suspected of violating consumers' right to know and right to choose.
Protecting consumers' right to know is a prerequisite for consumers to make correct choices. If consumers' right to know is not fully protected, the right to choose will inevitably be disturbed.
"Business is all about honesty and good fortune. If you want to keep repeat customers, you can't use your brains. Merchants can choose not to 'four-off', but they can't call the reverse overcharge as 'five-in'. Even a penny, It is also the rights and interests of consumers." The relevant person in charge of the Shenzhen Municipal Consumer Council said.
Yang Zhaokui