news

in 2024, the state administration for market regulation deployed a special law enforcement action to "protect consumption" and combat prominent illegal acts that infringe on consumer rights, focusing on five types of prominent illegal acts that consumers strongly complained about, and coordinated efforts to investigate and handle a number of consumer infringement cases in the field of people's livelihood, effectively safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of consumers and creating a safer and more secure consumption environment. the typical cases (first batch) are now announced as follows:

1. ningxia hui autonomous region pingluo county yingshang maternal and infant products store xinghai beiyuan branch failed to perform its prepaid consumption business obligations

on august 7, 2024, the pingluo county market supervision bureau of the ningxia hui autonomous region imposed an administrative penalty of warning on the xinghai beiyuan store of yingshang maternal and infant products store for the illegal act of providing services by collecting prepayments without entering into a written contract with consumers.

on august 1, 2024, law enforcement officers of the pingluo county market supervision bureau conducted an on-site inspection of the xinghai beiyuan store of yingshang maternal and child products store based on the complaints. upon investigation, it was found that the store provided indoor swimming services for infants and young children to consumers by collecting prepayments, but did not enter into a written contract with consumers, and only verbally informed them of the specific content, price or fees, prepayment refund method, and liability for breach of contract. the party's behavior violated the provisions of article 22, paragraph 1 of the "regulations on the implementation of the consumer protection law of the people's republic of china". in view of the fact that the party actively cooperated with the market supervision department's investigation and took the initiative to provide evidence materials, it complied with the provisions of articles 14 and 17 of the "rules for the application of administrative penalty discretion of market supervision and administration departments in the ningxia hui autonomous region". in accordance with the provisions of article 50, paragraph 2 of the "regulations on the implementation of the consumer protection law of the people's republic of china", the pingluo county market supervision bureau ordered the party to immediately correct the illegal behavior and impose an administrative penalty of warning in accordance with the law.

prepaid consumption is now increasingly used in education, fitness, beauty, catering and other fields. the "regulations on the implementation of the consumer protection law of the people's republic of china" clearly stipulates that when merchants provide goods or services in advance, they must enter into a written contract with consumers and stipulate specific service content, etc., to avoid potential breach of contract risks caused by information asymmetry between the two parties, thereby safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of consumers.

2. tianjin binhai new area mia photography service (tianjin) co., ltd. infringed on consumers’ personal information

on july 26, 2024, the market supervision bureau of tianjin binhai new area imposed an administrative penalty of 30,000 yuan on mia photography service (tianjin) co., ltd. for its illegal act of infringing on consumers' personal information.

on april 9, 2024, the binhai new area market supervision bureau received the "prosecution recommendation" from the binhai new area people's procuratorate, reflecting that mia photography service (tianjin) co., ltd. was suspected of infringing on consumer personal information. after investigation, from july 2019 to june 2022, wang, the legal representative of the party, purchased a total of 12,716 pieces of maternal information from gao at prices ranging from 800 yuan to 2,000 yuan per month for the purpose of expanding the company's photography service business. the total amount was 49,800 yuan. the party contacted the store through the obtained maternal personal information by phone to promote the photography service, and provided subsequent free or 99 yuan to 799 yuan photography service packages according to the customer's choice. the party's behavior violated the provisions of article 29, paragraph 1 of the "consumer protection law of the people's republic of china". the binhai new area market supervision bureau imposed administrative penalties on the party in accordance with the provisions of article 56, paragraph 1, item 9 of the "consumer protection law of the people's republic of china".

this case is a typical example of reverse connection between criminal and executive actions. the judicial organ imposed criminal punishment on wang, the legal representative of the party concerned, and the market supervision department imposed administrative punishment on the party concerned. the investigation and handling of this case has effectively cracked down on illegal acts that infringe on consumers' personal information and played a deterrent role on lawbreakers.

3. xinjiang production and construction corps xinjiang mengxiang mantu tourism service co., ltd. refused to fulfill its promise

on july 24, 2024, the market supervision bureau of the seventh division of the xinjiang production and construction corps imposed an administrative penalty of warning on xinjiang mengxiang mantu tourism service co., ltd. for failing to fulfill its promise to provide airport drop-off services to consumers.

on july 22, 2024, the seventh division market supervision bureau received a complaint from consumer li, saying that xinjiang mengxiang mantu tourism service co., ltd. did not provide the promised airport delivery service. li provided a promise certificate, hoping to refund the fees and compensate for the losses. law enforcement officers conducted an on-site inspection of the company, and the company admitted the fact that the promised airport delivery service was not provided. after mediation by law enforcement officers, the two parties reached an agreement that xinjiang mengxiang mantu tourism service co., ltd. would refund li 600 yuan. xinjiang mengxiang mantu tourism service co., ltd.'s promise to provide consumers with airport delivery services and its failure to perform violated article 12 of the "regulations on the implementation of the consumer protection law of the people's republic of china". in accordance with the provisions of article 50, paragraph 1 of the "regulations on the implementation of the consumer protection law of the people's republic of china", the seventh division market supervision bureau ordered xinjiang mengxiang mantu tourism service co., ltd. to correct the above-mentioned illegal acts and impose an administrative penalty of warning.

as the tourism market in xinjiang becomes increasingly hot, the demand for tourism is strong. the problems of mixed true and false tourism service information, tourism operators failing to perform service content, and service content not being consistent with reality are becoming more and more prominent, which seriously affects consumers' tourism experience. the investigation and handling of this case serves as a warning to tourism agencies for illegal behavior and maintains the integrity and order of the xinjiang tourism market.

4. case of suzhou junkai real estate development co., ltd. in zhangjiagang free trade zone, suzhou city, jiangsu province using standard terms to infringe on consumer rights

on may 23, 2024, the market supervision bureau of zhangjiagang free trade zone, suzhou city, jiangsu province, imposed an administrative penalty of 20,000 yuan on suzhou junkai real estate development co., ltd. for the illegal act of using standard clauses to restrict consumers' rights of recovery.

on january 22, 2024, the zhangjiagang free trade zone market supervision bureau filed a case against suzhou junkai real estate development co., ltd. based on the clues of the report. upon investigation, it was found that the parties were the developer and sales unit of the "jingyue lanting" community. in the "commodity housing sales contract" signed by the parties and the buyers, article 16 of the "supplementary agreement": the seller and the buyer agreed that article 11 of the purchase contract regarding "agreements on planning and design changes" was adjusted to "... the buyer agrees not to claim any compensation liability or request to terminate the contract from the seller due to planning changes or changes involved". the illegal behavior of the parties to restrict consumers' right to recovery violates article 26 of the "consumer protection law of the people's republic of china" and article 8 of the "administrative supervision and management measures for contracts". in view of the fact that the parties actively cooperated with the investigation and took the initiative to provide evidence materials, the zhangjiagang free trade zone market supervision bureau imposed a lighter punishment on the parties in accordance with article 10 (1) of the "regulations on the application of administrative penalty discretion for market supervision and management in jiangsu province", which stipulates "actively cooperate with the market supervision department in the investigation and take the initiative to provide evidence materials".

purchasing and delivering commercial housing as agreed is a contractual obligation that both sellers and developers should fulfill, and the fulfillment of this obligation is subject to dual constraints of law and contract. in this case, the real estate development company took advantage of its strong position to adjust the terms in the sales contract, exclude or restrict consumer rights, increase consumer responsibilities, reduce or exempt business operators from responsibilities, evade its own business risks, and infringe on the legitimate rights and interests of consumers. the investigation and handling of this case has a positive guiding role in warning developers not to use changes in contract terms to transfer home purchase risks to consumers and regulating the development of the real estate industry.

5. case of the public security county branch of guangzhou chente hotel management co., ltd. in public security county, hubei province using standard terms to infringe on consumer rights

on may 10, 2024, the market supervision bureau of gong'an county, hubei province imposed an administrative penalty of 30,000 yuan on the gong'an county branch of guangzhou chente hotel management co., ltd. for using standard terms to restrict consumers' right to independently choose services in accordance with the law.

on march 21, 2024, the gong'an county market supervision bureau received a complaint from a consumer, saying that when the party applied for a member recharge card pre-consumption service at the party's hotel, the merchant did not provide the service as promised and refused to negotiate, triggering a collective consumer dispute. upon investigation, in january 2023, before and after the opening of the party, in order to increase its visibility and attract customers, the party launched a recharge gift promotion through the company's wechat official account, wechat moments and store advertisements, and declared that the final right of interpretation of the promotion belonged to the party. in march 2024, the party issued a notice through its wechat official account without negotiating and communicating with consumers, unilaterally adjusted and cancelled some of the promised promotional activities and refused to negotiate, triggering concentrated complaints from consumers. it was also found that the party involved 33 consumers in the above-mentioned recharge pre-consumption activities, and the recharge amount involved was 2.15 million yuan. after mediation, the party and the consumer reached a settlement. the party's act of restricting consumers from choosing goods or services independently in accordance with the law violated the provisions of article 8, paragraph 1, items 3 and 7 of the "administrative supervision and management measures for contracts". the gong'an county market supervision bureau imposed administrative penalties on the party in accordance with article 18 of the "administrative supervision and management measures for contracts".

prepaid sales can quickly attract customers and lock in customers, and are a common means of commercial promotion. however, there are problems such as arbitrary changes to contracts, failure to implement promised services, and difficulty in canceling contracts and refunding fees. this case involves a large amount of money, a large number of people, and a wide range of people. the market supervision bureau collected evidence from multiple sources to form a complete chain of evidence, and promptly stopped and corrected the illegal behavior of the parties involved, effectively safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of consumers and promoting fair competition and healthy development in the market.

6. case of failure to provide goods as agreed by sanmenxia kunyi automobile sales and service co., ltd. in sanmenxia city, henan province

on april 2, 2024, the market supervision bureau of sanmenxia city, henan province, issued a warning and imposed an administrative penalty of 45,000 yuan on sanmenxia kunyi automobile sales and service co., ltd. for the illegal act of defrauding consumers of money and failing to provide goods as agreed.

on january 14, 2024, the sanmenxia municipal market supervision bureau conducted an on-site inspection of sanmenxia kunyi automobile sales and service co., ltd. in accordance with the law based on the clues of the complaint report, and found that the accessories used for the complainant's vehicle repair were not the original accessories of the vehicle, but the accessories pricing list provided by the company charged the fees according to the original accessories price. upon investigation, the complainant and the party agreed that the original accessories should be used to repair the vehicle. when providing automobile repair accessories, the party violated the agreement with the complainant and did not negotiate with the complainant to provide the vehicle accessories (heater assembly, on-board charger, shock absorber assembly, and front bumper of the vehicle) for repair without authorization. these accessories are non-original accessories, of which the heater assembly and on-board charger are dismantled parts of the second-hand vehicle purchased by the party, and the shock absorber assembly and the front bumper of the vehicle are non-original accessories purchased by the party. when the party issued a list of vehicle repair costs for the complainant, the above accessories that were not produced by the original factory were listed at the original accessories price. the party's behavior violated the provisions of article 5, item 10 of the "measures for the punishment of acts infringing consumer rights and interests", and constituted an act of defrauding consumers of the price without providing goods as agreed. in view of the fact that the party's behavior was subjective and intentional, and the amount involved was large, once an accident occurred, it would bring economic losses and safety hazards to consumers, which would have certain social harm and seriously infringe the rights and interests of consumers. taking into account the facts, nature, circumstances, and degree of social harm of the party's illegal behavior, the party was given a warning and fined 45,000 yuan.

4s stores promise to use original special equipment and tools, use genuine original accessories, and be able to repair in accordance with the original design and repair process requirements and standards, and guarantee the quality of repair items or parts. consumers often choose to repair and maintain in 4s stores because of their trust in the technical advantages of 4s stores. market supervision departments severely crack down on illegal acts of defrauding prices and selling inferior products as good ones, reduce economic losses for consumers, and effectively safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of consumers.

7. case of hengshui huijia automobile sales and service co., ltd. in hengshui city high-tech zone, hebei province using standard terms to infringe on consumer rights

on march 22, 2024, the high-tech zone branch of the hengshui municipal market supervision bureau of hebei province issued a warning and imposed an administrative penalty of 20,000 yuan on hengshui huijia automobile sales and service co., ltd. for its illegal behavior of using standard clauses to exempt itself from liability for breach of contract.

on february 29, 2024, law enforcement officers of the hengshui municipal market supervision bureau high-tech zone branch conducted an on-site inspection of hengshui huijia automobile sales and service co., ltd. in accordance with the law and found that the company's vehicle purchase and sales contract contained the words "after party a and party b sign this contract, neither party may unilaterally terminate or change it, and the deposit will not be refunded", but did not stipulate party a's liability for breach of contract. the party's use of the contract format clause to exempt itself from liability for breach of contract violates the provisions of article 7, paragraph 1, item 4 of the "administrative supervision and management measures for contracts". during the investigation of the case, the party actively cooperated with the investigation, truthfully stated the illegal facts and took the initiative to provide evidence materials; the format contract was used for a short time, and the party did not have a dispute with the consumer over the refund of the deposit during the use period, which met the circumstances of lighter punishment in the "rules for the application of administrative penalty discretion of the market supervision and management system of hebei province". taking into account the illegal facts, nature, circumstances, degree of social harm and subjective fault of the party, it was decided to impose a lighter punishment on the party. in the "administrative penalty discretion benchmarks of the market supervision and administration system of hebei province", "if an operator uses standard terms to enter into a contract with a consumer... but fails to explain it in accordance with the consumer's requirements", the discretionary benchmark with a lighter range of discretion is: "order to correct within a time limit, give a warning, and may impose a fine of less than 30,000 yuan". in accordance with article 18 of the "administrative supervision and administration measures for contracts", it is decided to impose the following administrative penalties on the parties: 1. warning; 2. fine of rmb 20,000.

in recent years, with the improvement of people's consumption level, cars have entered thousands of households, and contract disputes related to car purchases have gradually increased. in this case, the parties made a "non-refundable deposit" provision in the vehicle purchase and sales contract, which was a use of standard terms to exempt themselves from liability and infringed on the rights and interests of consumers. the law enforcement officers of the market supervision department promptly discovered and stopped the illegal behavior of the parties to avoid economic losses to consumers.

8. case of meishan jianguo tianfo automobile sales co., ltd. in dongpo district, meishan city, sichuan province using standard terms to infringe on consumer rights

on february 26, 2024, the dongpo district market supervision bureau of meishan city, sichuan province issued a warning and imposed an administrative penalty of 20,000 yuan on meishan jianguo tianfo automobile sales co., ltd. for its illegal behavior of using standard clauses to restrict consumers' right to prosecute.

on december 4, 2023, the dongpo district market supervision bureau of meishan city received a report and inspected meishan jianguo tianfo automobile sales co., ltd. in accordance with the law. it was found that the "car order agreement" used by the parties contained "from the time the vehicle is delivered to the buyer, regardless of whether the ownership of the vehicle has been transferred to the buyer, if the vehicle violates the rules, is damaged, lost, or has a traffic accident, the buyer shall bear all responsibility" and "the buyer is fully aware that the seller has not authorized anyone to collect the payment on its behalf. according to the seller's regulations, the buyer promises that all payments under this agreement will be paid to the seller's finance department, and the seller will issue an invoice or receipt. if the buyer pays the money to any personal account, the buyer shall bear the relevant legal consequences, and the buyer waives the right to sue the seller. the invoice or receipt issued by the seller shall be kept by the buyer and has nothing to do with the seller." the above unfair terms have increased the risk burden on consumers, transferred the company's internal financial responsibilities, and arbitrarily deprived consumers of their legal rights to sue. after investigation, it was found that the "car order agreement" signed by the party and the whistleblower luo on november 15, 2023 contained the above content. his behavior violated the provisions of article 7, item 3 and article 8, item 6 of the "administrative supervision and management measures for contracts". meishan dongpo district market supervision bureau imposed administrative penalties on the party in accordance with the law. during the investigation and handling of this case, the party actively cooperated with the investigation, truthfully stated the facts of the violation, promptly amended the content of the agreement, and took the initiative to eliminate the harm of the violation. according to article 13 of the "guiding opinions on regulating the discretion of administrative penalties for market supervision and management" "(ii) actively eliminate or mitigate the harmful consequences of illegal acts" and article 32 of the "administrative penalty law of the people's republic of china" "(i) actively eliminate or mitigate the harmful consequences of illegal acts", etc., the provisions that administrative penalties should be mitigated or mitigated in accordance with the law, taking into account the amount involved, social harm, consumer attitudes and other factors, meishan dongpo district market supervision bureau exercised its discretion to give the party a lighter punishment.

in recent years, some operators have relied on their dominant market position to formulate contracts containing unfair standard clauses, evading their own responsibilities and obligations and infringing on the legitimate rights and interests of consumers. in this case, market supervision law enforcement officers carefully investigated the reporting clues, promptly stopped the illegal behavior of the parties, strengthened the supervision of standard contracts, safeguarded the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, and built a more assured and comfortable consumption environment for consumers.

9. case of xianfeng fruit hangzhou chengbei mixc store in yuhang district, hangzhou city, zhejiang province, failing to provide goods as agreed

on january 29, 2024, the yuhang district market supervision bureau of hangzhou city, zhejiang province, imposed an administrative penalty of 80,000 yuan on xianfeng fruit hangzhou chengbei mixc store for the illegal act of using low-priced fruits instead of high-priced fruits to defraud consumers of the price.

on august 31, 2023, the yuhang district market supervision bureau of hangzhou city investigated the illegal behavior of xianfeng fruit hangzhou chengbei mixc store for not providing goods as agreed based on public reports. it was found that from july 19, 2023 to september 19, 2023, the party sold early cherries, white peaches, ground broken pears, summer black grapes, etc. in the northern hemisphere through meituan and ele.me food delivery platforms, and replaced them with lower-priced products such as canadian cherries, big red peaches, peaches, red crisp pears, and kyoho grapes. the price difference between the above fruits and substitutes ranged from 30% to 80%. the party's behavior violated the provisions of article 5, paragraph 1, item (10) of the "measures for the punishment of acts infringing consumer rights and interests". in view of the fact that the brand joined by the party has a certain degree of popularity, and the party's illegal behavior continued after being reported and inspected by law enforcement personnel, and taking into account the party's business time and scale, the yuhang district market supervision bureau of hangzhou city decided to impose an administrative penalty of 80,000 yuan on the party in accordance with the law.

in this case, the parties took advantage of consumers' trust in their brands, consumers' blind spots in fruit grade recognition, and information gaps in online shopping, and substituted inferior products for good ones, seriously infringing on consumers' legitimate rights and interests. the investigation and handling of this case revealed some of the unspoken rules of illegal businesses in the fruit business industry, purified the market environment, effectively curbed consumer fraud in the fruit business industry in the jurisdiction, and also served as a warning and education for operators to operate in good faith and regulate the industry.

10. mengbao trading company in quannan county, jiangxi province, violated the rights of elderly consumers by using standard terms

on january 11, 2024, the market supervision bureau of quannan county, jiangxi province, imposed an administrative penalty of 80,000 yuan on quannan county mengbao trading company for the illegal act of using standard clauses to exempt operators from the return liability they should bear for the goods they provide in accordance with the law.

on december 15, 2023, based on clues from multiple consumer complaints and reports, the quannan county market supervision bureau and the quannan county public security bureau conducted an on-site inspection of mengbao trading company in quannan county and found that the "customer inventory list" used by the party concerned contained the content "once the product is deposited, it cannot be returned". upon investigation, the party concerned adopted the method of distributing flyers to the elderly to attract customers to the store, and promoted a certain brand of goat milk powder through marketing methods such as explanations and introductions, and recharging membership to send goat milk powder. because some consumers purchased a large number of goods at a time, the party concerned signed a "customer inventory list" with the customer, collected all the payment in advance, and the uncollected part was temporarily stored in the store or purchased in batches by the party concerned as needed. since the party concerned "took over" the store, a total of 10 "customer inventory lists" have been signed, and 67 "customer inventory lists" signed by the previous operator have been continued to be used, involving 114 inventory customers. at the time of the incident, there were still 87 customers who had stock, with a total of 1,619 cans of goat milk powder stored, with a total value of more than 250,000 yuan. each "customer inventory list" was printed with the content "once the product is deposited, it cannot be returned." the party's behavior violated the provisions of article 7, item (3) of the "administrative supervision and management measures for contracts". in view of the fact that the party's goat milk powder promotion targets are mainly the elderly, the purchase and inventory are all specific groups of the elderly, the business model has caused many consumer complaints and reports, the inventory list involves a large number of people, the number and amount of goods are large, and there is a situation that is easy to cause social instability. according to article 20 of the "jiangxi province market supervision and administration administrative penalty discretion application rules", "if any of the following circumstances exists, the administrative penalty may be imposed in accordance with the law: (ii) the illegal behavior is mainly aimed at specific groups such as pregnant women, infants, children, and the elderly; ", the quannan county market supervision bureau imposed the above-mentioned administrative penalties on the party in accordance with the law.

the knowledge and information structure of the elderly is difficult to keep up with the development of society. in addition, they have less contact with society and their judgment and identification abilities are weakened, making them easy targets for "deception" by lawbreakers. market supervision departments have severely cracked down on illegal activities that endanger the legitimate rights and interests of the elderly in accordance with the law, allowing the elderly to consume with greater peace of mind.