● The original intention of the express cabinet was to solve the problem of the "last 100 meters" cost of the express delivery industry. The controversy caused by Feng Chao ’s overtime charging exposed the long-term contradiction of terminal delivery in the express delivery industry.
● The express delivery industry has continued the business model of "exchanging prices for volume", gaining more market share through lower prices, and the competitive model of "exchanging prices for volume" and "e-commerce to suppress prices" has led companies to have no more funds Support the cost of express cabinets, so there is a phenomenon of charging certain express cabinet fees
● The property should include the "last 100 meters" of express delivery into the community public infrastructure. The property will purchase the express self-service cabinets independently, and entrust the information operation and maintenance company to carry out information operation, maintenance and management of the self-service cabinets. Maintenance cost
□ Reporter Zhao Li
□ Jia Jie, an intern in this newspaper
On May 15, Fengchao formally apologized to the outside world and adjusted the service. The free storage period of users was extended from the original 12 hours to 18 hours. After overtime, they will be charged 0.5 yuan for every 12 hours and capped at 3 yuan.
The practice from free of charge to charging on the consumer side has pushed Fengchao to the forefront. Although users have almost formed a one-sided "resistance attitude" about "Should Fengchao be charged", the latest reply given by Fengwen Chief Marketing Officer Li Wenqing is that the company will not abandon the strategy of charging.
On May 13, the China Consumers Association stated that operators of community property and smart express box operators, express delivery companies, e-commerce platforms and other operators should clearly inform consumers one-on-one of free services before providing related services to consumers through smart express boxes Matters related to consumer interests such as storage period and service charge standards, and obtain consumer consent.
The Shanghai Post Administration also stated that, in accordance with the principle of "tolerance, prudence and promotion of development", the person in charge of Fengchao's Shanghai regional operations has been instructed to fully consider the reasonable demands of the public and adjust relevant measures. At the same time, coordinate with relevant departments to continue to promote the construction of express terminal facilities such as smart express boxes and public service stations, and increase service standards and supervision.
The original intention of the birth of the express cabinet was to solve the problem of the "last 100 meters" cost of the express industry. The controversy caused by Fengchao's overtime charging exposed the long-term contradiction of terminal delivery in the express industry.
Overtime charge fifty cents
User dissatisfaction
On April 28, Fengchao announced that it will charge a storage fee for all overtime storage couriers stored in Fengchao express cabinets from April 30. Ordinary users will be charged for 12 hours for free. After overtime, they will be charged 0.5 yuan and capped at 3 yuan. Consumers can also choose to purchase members. The monthly card is 5 yuan per month, unlimited storage times, and each item can be stored for 7 days.
Although the fees are not high, many consumers are dissatisfied.
On May 5, the Hangzhou Dongxinyuan Community Business Committee "fired the first shot."
On May 7, Li Wenqing said in an interview that the three-party agreement between Fengchao and Hangzhou Dongxinyuan community property and owner only agreed on the site fee paid by Fengchao to the property, and did not involve Fengchao's daily business model and charging standards. .
On May 8th, as multiple communities in the Yangtze River Delta region followed up, the matter quickly fermented.
An industry committee participant exchange website called "Zhong Ant Community" published an open letter requesting Fengchao to specify the charging standards on the express cabinet, reminding the courier to be approved by the recipient and telling the relevant charging standards before they can be put into the express cabinet , It is recommended to extend the free storage time to 24 hours or 48 hours, etc.
On May 9, Fengchao issued an open letter stating that setting a 12-hour storage period can increase the speed of express delivery.
On May 10, Shanghai Zhonghuan Huayuan Community issued an open letter to Fengchao Company, pointing directly to the unreasonable charges of Fengchao Express.
On May 11, Li Wenqing said that the agreement signed between Fengchao and the community does not contain constraints on Fengchao's business model and prices. For this reason, Fengchao can make its own decisions about operations and charges, and the relevant actions are not illegal.
On the property owner's side, they began to define Fengchao's behavior as "illegal charges".
On May 12, Dongxinyuan Community sent a letter to Fengchao requesting Fengchao to solve the problem of "illegal charges" within 3 days, but the letter was returned by the recipient.
On the same day, the “Zhong Ant Community”, which had been supported by 108 communities across the country, issued a document saying that the behavior of the community to resist Fengchao is not a firm opposition, but that it is hoped that the two parties can establish an effective communication channel to effectively respond to the owners ’claims.
Complex legal relationship
According to the contract
During the interview, a legal person pointed out that Feng Chao's overtime charging incident involves multiple legal relationships. Among them, the consignor, consignee and courier company have "transportation legal contract", the property company and Fengchao have "site leasing service contract", and the property company and industry committee have "property service contract" .
"The contradiction between the owner committee, the property company and Fengchao depends on many factors. For example, whether the site and the power supply of the community are charged. If there is no charge, the owner committee and the property company regard the express delivery service as an integral part of the community property service , The community has reason to propose conditions to Fengchao. "Ding Hongtao, director of the Legal Affairs Department of the China Express Association, analyzed in an interview with the" Legal Daily "reporter, if the community charges for the venue and power supply at the market price, the community will use power to the express cabinet. , Clearance and other methods may not be appropriate, but it also depends on how the contract between Fengchao and the community owner committee or express company is agreed.
Xu Yong, chief consultant of the express logistics consulting network, believes that "it is necessary for the express cabinet to charge a certain fee at the moment. It is mainly due to the long-term imbalance of revenue and expenditure that leads to unsustainable development."
Xu Yong further analyzed that the establishment of express cabinets requires a certain amount of operating costs, mainly from the management fees, rental fees, electricity charges and network fees and operating fees charged by the property, and the originally envisaged profit mainly comes from the collection of express delivery The cost of the employee is passed on to the courier company, and the e-commerce company pays the bill. "At present, the e-commerce commodity price setting includes funds such as postage, but due to the use of its platform and quantity advantages, the e-commerce company suppresses the price of express delivery and earns the difference in express delivery fees. . "
"At present, the top 8 brands account for more than 90% of the market in the express delivery industry, which results in a high brand concentration. And because China's express delivery companies all adopt the form of franchise outlets, they have independent pricing power. From an economic perspective, independent Enterprises with more pricing power have lower market concentration. The lower the market concentration, the easier it is to trigger homogeneous competition, and the result will inevitably be a price war. "Xu Yong said that the current express delivery industry has continued The business model of "price-for-volume" exchanges lower prices for more market share, while the "e-commerce suppresses prices" and "price-for-volume" competitive models result in companies not having more funds to support the cost of express cabinets. As a result, there is a phenomenon of charging a certain express cabinet fee.
Get permission to use
Protect user rights
At a time when consumers and businesses are in a quarrel, regulators have been emphasizing that the use of smart express cabinets must be approved by the recipient. And this is also the key for consumers and industry insiders.
As early as June 20, 2019, the Ministry of Transport announced the "Administrative Measures for the Delivery Service of Intelligent Express Boxes" (hereinafter referred to as the "Measures"), which will take effect on October 1, 2019. The "Measures" require enterprises to use smart express boxes to deliver express mails with the consent of the recipient, and notify the recipients in time after delivering the express mail.
On May 10th, the postal administration of Shanghai Municipality made this provision clear again. The same statement has also been responded to in many postal administrations.
According to statistics, after the Fengchao overtime charging storm occurred, postal administrations in Shandong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Guangdong and other places reiterated that the courier's act of dropping into the express cabinet without the user's consent is illegal, and consumers can complain and pass the law Ways to recover. However, the postal management department did not give a clear opinion on the free time limit and how to charge after free.
In Ding Hongtao's view, in the requests made by many communities for Fengchao express cabinets, "with the permission to put in the express cabinet, it is aimed at the courier, not Fengchao."
Shanghai Zhonghuan Huayuan Community Business Committee believes that the problem with Fengchao is that it does not distinguish between customers who are willing to use them and other customers. One of the owners said: "If Fangfeng Chao obtained the consent, due to my own reasons, a timeout fee will be incurred, not to mention 0.5 yuan, I will also pay 10 yuan."
In this regard, Li Wenqing said that the cooperation agreement between Fengchao and the courier company, and the use agreement of the courier, are required for notification, "It is actually not compliant to use Fengchao for delivery without the recipient ’s consent, but in In actual operation, since Fengchao and the express company are different operating entities, the courier's irregular behavior has been repeatedly prohibited. Even if Fengchao reminds the courier every time when delivering the package, the effect is minimal. "
An executive of a courier company who did not want to be named admitted that the establishment of a courier cabinet was to solve the "last 100 meters" problem. For example, how to deliver the express when the user is not at home. At first, the courier was very standardized and would communicate with the user in advance. But now, it is normal for couriers to put them directly into Fengchao without telling users. "Everyone's ideas were good at first, but they changed later."
"In addition to the charging conditions and charging standards, Fengchao Express Cabinet charges the storage fee. It should also consider whether the courier company fully fulfills the delivery service contract, as well as the sender and recipient's right to know, choose, and fair trade." Ding Hongtao Said that the services provided by Fengchao to consumers should be based on a two-way choice and voluntary basis.
"Legal Daily" reporters learned from various sources that the current effective way to deal with the unauthorized delivery of couriers to Fengchao is to file a complaint with the postal department.
A consumer in Beijing told the "Legal Daily" reporter that after she complained to the General Post Office several times, the courier never sent her courier to Fengchao.
In fact, it is difficult for courier companies to restrain couriers. After the outbreak of overtime charging disputes in Fengchao, some media reported that Yuantong, Zhongtong and other express outlets reminded couriers that they should try to confirm with the customer's ITU before using Fengchao express cabinets and tell them to pick up as soon as possible. The courier of the corresponding courier company said in an interview that he has not heard of the company's strict restraint measures.
"The courier will put the courier into the courier cabinet without the consumer's consent. The consumer should generally not bear the cost of overtime. Fengchao charges, and the consumer can refuse to pick up the express. Under the existing legal system, this situation is usually It is considered that the courier company has not completed the delivery service. Consumers can ask the courier company to deliver the courier to themselves. In this way, in fact, most of the problems of using the courier without the consumer ’s consent have been solved. Only individual courier, such as medicines, Important documents, etc., consumers must obtain the first time, and have to pay fees to Fengchao. "Ding Hongtao said.
Classification pricing disputes
Set a reasonable period
The reason why the express cabinet business represented by Fengchao appears is essentially to solve the problem of "last 100 meters" of express delivery.
At the policy level, due to the safe, efficient and convenient delivery mode, the smart express box has repeatedly won state support.
During the prevention and control of the new coronary pneumonia epidemic, the National Prevention and Control Headquarters encouraged the use of courier cabinets for delivery of items at a press conference to reduce contact between people.
In mid-April, the Ministry of Commerce and the State Post Bureau issued the "Notice on Further Promoting the Collaborative Development of E-Commerce and Express Logistics", which requires the clarification of the public attributes of smart express boxes and express terminal integrated service venues, and the integration of smart express boxes and express terminal integrated services. Places are included in the planning of public service facilities.
According to data from the State Post Bureau, it is expected that the express delivery rate will reach 20% by 2020, corresponding to the demand for express cabinets of approximately 76 million. It is expected to reach 30% by 2023, and the equipment market will exceed 50 billion yuan.
However, Fengchao's overtime charging incident exposed three gaps in the express delivery industry.
Xu Yong analyzed that, first of all, it is the gap caused by the lack of classification services in e-commerce. During delivery, the corresponding options should be set for consumers to choose, such as post, home, property, express cabinet, etc. Leverage needs to set the corresponding postage price. Secondly, it is the gap caused by the inaccurate information of the courier. The courier does not know where to send the courier, and different requirements produce different requirements. Thirdly, it is the gap caused by the property not including express delivery into the service scope.
"The development of express cabinets has not yet reached the ceiling, the coverage rate is still low, and the rate of entering the cabinet will continue to increase in the future." Ding Hongtao said.
According to Ding Hongtao, the reason why the current express cabinet industry can continue to operate mainly comes from financial subsidies and government tax incentives, as well as convenience measures such as fee reductions provided by communities, streets, neighborhood committees in terms of venues and electricity, etc. Companies or couriers charge fees, charge consumers and capital market investments.
According to Ding Hongtao, one of the development directions of the express delivery industry is the classified pricing model.
"Where the consumer delivers, you can choose the delivery method at the end, you know the courier charge for the door-to-door, the courier charge for the courier, and the charging conditions and standards of the courier. This method does not require special The technical means are just the sender's choice of different express products. "Ding Hongtao said.
In Xu Yong's view, the overtime charging incident of Fengchao exposed the problems faced by the express delivery industry, which required adjustment and management by relevant departments. "The property should include the express" last 100 meters "into the community public infrastructure. The property will independently purchase the express self-service cabinet, and entrust the information operation and maintenance company to carry out information operation, maintenance and management of the self-service cabinet, and pay the relevant operation from the property fee every month. Maintenance costs. "
However, in the statement of the China Consumers Association, such a statement has also attracted the public's attention-"The smart express box service provided for consumers in the community should be included in the community property service business scope, and should not be within the reasonable storage period. Collect service fees separately, and properly handle the service connection outside the storage period. For those who really need to use the smart express box service beyond the deadline, the determination of the charging standard should refer to the public service price management method, rather than simply through the market mechanism solve".
Ding Hongtao said that for the "reasonable" storage period, the "Measures" did not stipulate, "This is not a legislative loophole. The" Measures "hand this" reasonable "period to the market and to express companies, consumers, and properties. Companies, owners' committees, industry authorities, price authorities and other entities go to game, and eventually form a "reasonable" period, and also form a "reasonable" charging standard. This "reasonable" will continue to change as the market changes. " .
In Ding Hongtao's view, at least the following factors should be considered in determining the reasonable storage period:
First, whether the space and electricity used by the express cabinet are free or symbolic, or charged according to the market price; second, whether the local authorities have included the express cabinet in the planning scope, and whether there are financial subsidies and tax reductions, Or other economic support; third, how much does the express cabinet company charge the express company or courier; fourth, how much does the express cabinet company charge the recipient; fifth, how does the express cabinet company in a certain area or Is it unique within a certain cell? If it is unique, it may involve monopoly and price violations; if there are multiple local express cabinets, the reasonable period can be appropriately shortened through full market competition.
Cartography / Gao Yue