Civil Affairs Departments (Bureaus), Development and Reform Commission, Public Security Department (Bureaus), Finance Department (Bureaus), Market Supervision Bureau, Financial Supervision Bureau of all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, Civil Affairs Bureau, Development and Reform Commission, Public Security Bureau, Finance Bureau, Market Supervision Bureau, Financial Supervision Bureau of all cities specifically designated in the plan, Civil Affairs Bureau, Development and Reform Commission, Public Security Bureau, Finance Bureau, Market Supervision Bureau of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps Financial Supervisory Authority; Shanghai Headquarters of the People's Bank of China, provincial branches and branches in cities specifically designated in the state plan:
In recent years, some elderly care institutions have adopted the pre charging mode of operation, which has alleviated the problems such as insufficient funds for facilities construction to a certain extent and relieved the operating pressure. However, there are also a few elderly care institutions that have problems such as irregular fund management and use, "difficult refund", "explosive thunder", and "running away" after the capital chain is broken, and even some criminals have committed illegal fund-raising, fraud and other criminal acts, seriously damaging the legitimate rights and interests of the elderly and disturbing the order of the elderly care service market. In order to implement the important directive spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping on better overall development and security, and safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of the elderly, in accordance with the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of the Elderly, the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests, the Regulations on the Prevention and Disposal of Illegal Fund Raising, and the Administrative Measures for Aged Care Institutions And the Opinions of the General Office of the State Council on Promoting the Development of Elderly Care Services (GBF [2019] No. 5), the Opinions of the General Office of the State Council on Establishing and Improving the Comprehensive Supervision System of Elderly Care Services to Promote the High quality Development of Elderly Care Services (GBF [2020] No. 48) and other laws, regulations and relevant national regulations. Now, the following opinions are put forward on strengthening the supervision of prepayment of elderly care institutions.
1、 General requirements
（1） Guiding ideology.
Guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, comprehensively implement the spirit of the 20th CPC National Congress, thoroughly implement the deployment of the Central Financial Work Conference, fully, accurately and comprehensively implement the new development concept, serve to accelerate the construction of a new development pattern, adhere to the people as the center, better coordinate development and safety, and strengthen the collection, management, use The supervision of refunds should standardize and guide the healthy development of elderly care institutions, prevent and resolve the risks of illegal financial activities such as illegal fund-raising, protect the legitimate rights and interests of the elderly, maintain the order of the elderly care service market with fair competition, and promote the high-quality development of elderly care services in the new era.
（2） Basic principles.
——Insist on seeking truth from facts and adjusting measures to local conditions. According to the actual development of elderly care institutions, learn from useful experience and clarify management requirements. Encourage the use of Internet, blockchain and other information technology means, through bank custody, insurance and other means, to improve the level of capital security.
——Adhere to safe development and keep the bottom line. Comprehensively plan development and safety, both include prudential supervision of emerging businesses, and guide elderly care institutions to operate in a standardized manner, crack down on illegal and criminal acts in accordance with the law, and resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the elderly.
——Adhere to pragmatism, efficiency, coordination and linkage. Sort out and analyze the risk points of pre charge collection, management, use, refund and other links, take practical and effective preventive measures, and effectively manage the management. Strengthen cross departmental business collaboration, strengthen the overall planning and coordination of pre charge supervision, enhance the joint force of supervision, and improve the efficiency of comprehensive supervision.
（3） Key objectives.
By 2025, we will establish and improve the pre charge supervision mechanism of cross sectoral elderly care institutions, further optimize the coordination of supervision, effectively improve the ability to monitor and warn pre charge funds, identify potential risks, and deal with violations of laws and regulations, make the elderly care service market more fair and orderly, effectively reduce the potential risks of illegal fund-raising, and steadily increase the satisfaction of the elderly with the consumption of elderly care services.
2、 Standardize the pre charging behavior of elderly care institutions
（4） Definition of pre charge. Pre charge of pension institutions refers to the behavior that pension institutions charge a certain amount of fees to the elderly or their agents in advance and promise to provide corresponding pension services in accordance with the service agreement within a certain period of time. The fees collected in advance by pension institutions mainly include pension service fees, deposits and membership fees. Pension service fees refer to bed fees, care fees, meals and other fees; Deposit refers to the expenses for guaranteeing the emergency needs of the elderly such as medical treatment, repayment of arrears, compensation for property losses, etc; The membership fee refers to the fees charged by the elderly care institutions in the form of "membership card", "VIP card", etc., which are used for the elderly to obtain service qualifications, use facilities and equipment, enjoy service discounts, etc.
（5） Collection requirements. If the fees charged by the elderly care institutions belong to the government's non tax income, the relevant system provisions of the government's non tax income shall be implemented. Elderly care institutions are encouraged to provide services to the elderly by charging fees in the current month. If the method of pre charging is adopted, the elder service institution shall publicize the information of pre charging items, standards and other information in prominent places such as service places and portals, and submit it to the civil affairs department in charge of supervision. The for-profit elderly service institution shall report to the civil affairs department at the county level where the service place is located, and the non-profit elderly service institution shall report to the civil affairs department at the same level as the registration administration authority. The provincial civil affairs department may, according to the local situation, determine the maximum advance collection period of the local pension service fee and the maximum advance collection amount of the deposit together with the relevant departments, but the maximum advance collection period of the pension service fee shall not exceed 12 months, and the deposit collected for a single elderly person shall not exceed 12 times the monthly bed fee of the elderly person. For elderly care institutions that charge membership fees to make up for the lack of funds for facility construction, the provincial civil affairs department can, in accordance with the principle of inclusive and prudent supervision, specify the maximum amount of membership fees and other restrictive requirements. The elderly care institutions that have not been built or have been built but do not have the conditions to accommodate the elderly shall not collect membership fees. Public pension institutions, public private pension institutions, and pension institutions jointly built by the government and social forces shall not collect membership fees. The elderly care institution or its legal representative (main person in charge), actual controller, who is the person to be executed for dishonesty, or who has been subject to administrative punishment or criminal punishment for illegal fund-raising or fraud, is included in the list of elderly care services, enterprises, and social organizations that are seriously dishonest. If they have not been removed, they shall not charge membership fees. Elderly care institutions shall not provide services beyond the supply capacity of beds, ensure that the total number of elderly people who pay fees shall not exceed the total number of their registered beds, and the total amount of prepaid fees shall not exceed their net fixed assets (the value of assets that have set security interests shall not be included in the net fixed assets).
（6） Agreement management. An elder service institution shall fully guarantee the right of the elderly and their agents to know, truthfully and accurately explain the collection and use of advance charges and other relevant information, inform them of possible risks, and specify the items, standards, management methods, refund conditions and methods, liability for breach of contract, etc. of advance charges in the service agreement. The elder service institution shall not use the standard terms to set unreasonable refund restrictions, exclude or limit the rights of the elderly, increase the responsibilities of the elderly, or reduce or exempt the responsibilities of the elder service institution. They shall not make false or misleading publicity, nor induce the elderly or their agents to pay advance charges by promising to repay the principal and interest, or giving other investment returns. The elderly and their agents should improve their awareness of risk prevention, consume rationally, pay pre charges carefully, not be tempted by high returns, not participate in illegal fund-raising, and be careful about property losses. The elderly care institutions shall issue invoices for advance charges in accordance with the national regulations, and shall not fill in the contents inconsistent with the actual transactions, and shall not substitute "white notes" such as collection receipts for collection vouchers. The elderly or their agents shall ask for and properly keep the invoices or other consumption vouchers after paying the fees. In case of consumption disputes, they can claim their rights according to laws and regulations.
（7） Use purpose. The fees collected in advance by the elderly care institutions are mainly used to deduct the fees that the elderly need to pay during their stay in the institutions, make up for the lack of funds for the construction of facilities of the institutions, or develop the elderly care service business of the institutions. The deposit shall not be disbursed except for refund, payment of medical expenses for the elderly in emergencies, deduction of pension service fees owed by the elderly, or liquidated damages and compensation payable to the elderly care institutions. Membership fees shall not be used for high-risk investments such as non self use real estate, securities, financial derivatives, etc., and shall not be directly or indirectly invested in companies whose main business is to buy and sell securities, or used for other lending purposes; It shall not invest or donate to other enterprises under the name of its legal representative (main person in charge) or actual controller; Elderly care institutions operating in chains and groups shall not invest or donate to affiliated enterprises.
（8） Refund requirements. For the prepaid fees that meet the refund conditions agreed in the service agreement, the elderly service institution shall refund the fees in time as agreed, and shall not refuse or delay. If the elderly have not yet stayed in the institution to receive services and propose to terminate the service agreement, the elderly care institution shall timely refund the prepaid fees. If the elderly have already stayed in the institution to receive services and propose to terminate the agreement, the amount already consumed will be deducted. In principle, the elderly care institution will refund the remaining fees in a lump sum according to the original channel, unless otherwise agreed in the terms of the agreement. If an elderly care institution suspends or terminates its service due to closure or other reasons, it shall issue a reminder of changes in its business status 30 days in advance at its service place, portal website and other eye-catching locations, return the remaining fees in a timely manner, properly solve the subsequent service problems, and bear the responsibility of the business entity according to law. If a dispute arises between an elderly care institution and the elderly or their agents due to refund, the two parties can resolve it through consultation, mediation, complaint, arbitration, litigation, etc.
3、 Strengthen diversified supervision and management
（9） Implement bank deposit and risk margin management. The deposit and membership fee shall be managed by means of third-party deposit and risk margin of commercial banks to ensure the safety of funds. The civil affairs department shall, together with the local financial supervision department, formulate the specific requirements for depository, handling procedures, rights and obligations of pension institutions and depository banks and other depository rules, determine the list of all commercial banks undertaking business based on credit status, service level, risk control ability, human resources and other factors, and publish it to the public. Within the published list, the elderly care institution shall independently select a depository bank, sign a tripartite depository agreement with the civil affairs department in charge of supervision and the depository bank, open a special deposit account, and report to the civil affairs department in charge of supervision in a timely manner if there is any change or cancellation of the account. If an elder service institution is managed as a budget unit, its account opening and use shall also comply with the relevant provisions of the financial department at the same level. The depository bank shall perform the obligation of fund custody according to the depository agreement, provide no guarantee for the elderly care services, and the elderly care institution shall not use the depository bank for marketing publicity. All pension service fees collected in advance by an elderly care institution shall be timely deposited into its basic deposit account, and all deposits and membership fees shall be timely deposited into a special deposit account. It is not allowed to use any account other than the basic deposit account of the institution, the special deposit account for depository, or any account other than the account of the institution or any other individual account for fee transfer. If the elderly or their agents pay in cash, the elder service institution shall deposit the money into the corresponding account of the institution in a timely manner. A certain amount of fund shall be retained in the special deposit account of the elderly care institution as the risk deposit, and the specific proportion shall be determined by the provincial civil affairs department, but the retention proportion shall not be less than 10% of the total membership fees of the account in the past three years (if the account is collected less than three years, it shall be calculated as the total amount of accumulated membership fees), and shall not be less than 20% of the current balance of the account. When the balance of the special deposit account is close to the minimum proportion of risk margin, the depository bank shall give an early warning to the elderly care institution. In case of abnormal flow of funds in the special deposit account and the account balance reaches the minimum proportion of risk margin, the depository bank shall not handle expenditure for the elderly care institution except for refund, and shall make risk warning to the civil affairs department in charge of supervision, and report the relevant information to the local financial supervision department and the leading department for handling illegal fund-raising. The provincial civil affairs department shall, together with the provincial financial supervision department, detail and determine the abnormal flow of funds. The depository bank shall establish an account management system for elderly care institutions, collect information about the collection and use of funds of elderly care institutions, and connect with the information system of the civil affairs department. The civil affairs department should rely on the information system to strengthen the in-process and post supervision of the elderly care institutions' pre charges. If the elderly care institutions are found to be suspected of illegal fund-raising, the relevant information should be reported to the depository bank. The depository bank shall take corresponding restrictive measures against the special deposit account in accordance with the legal provisions and the depository agreement.
（10） Strengthen daily supervision and risk monitoring. The civil affairs department shall disclose the information submitted by the elderly care institutions in advance to the public according to law and regulations through the portal website and other channels. The civil affairs department should include the advance charges into the key inspection items under the supervision of "double random and one open", entrust social intermediaries to carry out spot check and audit on the collection, management and use of advance charges of a certain proportion of elderly care institutions every year, and can jointly carry out special inspection on prominent or common problems found in daily inspection and case inspection. The civil affairs, market supervision and other departments should collect the administrative punishment, spot check results and other information generated in the process of supervision of pension institutions' pre charge in a timely manner to the relevant credit information platform and publicize them in accordance with the law. All localities should rely on the national elderly care service information system, illegal fund-raising monitoring and early warning platform, etc., explore the establishment of key risk indicator monitoring models, and regularly issue risk early warning tips. Encourage all localities to actively introduce insurance mechanisms to provide risk protection for the elderly to pay advance fees.
（11） Classified disposal of potential problems. If the civil affairs, market supervision and other departments find that the elderly care institutions have problems such as irregular pre charge behavior in their daily supervision, they should conduct warning interviews with their legal representatives (main responsible persons) to urge them to make rectification in place and operate in accordance with the law. If there are problems with illegal collection and use of pre charges, the civil affairs department shall order rectification within a time limit. If the rectification is not made within the time limit, and there are risks that may endanger the property safety of the elderly, the department shall order suspension of business for rectification; If it is found that there may be illegal fund-raising risks, it shall timely notify the leading department for illegal fund-raising disposal by letter, and conduct warning interviews and order rectification separately or jointly with the leading department for illegal fund-raising disposal; In case of any suspected illegal fund-raising, report to the local people's government as soon as possible, and notify the leading department for handling illegal fund-raising by letter, and cooperate in the investigation, identification and subsequent disposal according to law; If a suspected crime is found, it shall be transferred to the public security organ according to law. For the elderly care institutions engaged in illegal fund-raising in the name of pre charge, the civil affairs department should strengthen credit punishment according to law and regulations, and cooperate with relevant departments to do the work of benefit breakthrough and stability maintenance.
4、 Guarantee organization and implementation
（12） Do a good job of implementation. The provincial civil affairs department should take the lead in formulating implementation rules or introducing corresponding management measures, and refine management requirements and specific measures in combination with local conditions; We will improve the implementation of the model text of pension service agreements and guide and standardize the signing and performance of contracts. All localities should improve the working mechanism, clarify the division of responsibilities, implement the local supervision responsibilities, and ensure that the supervision measures are effective; The complaint and reporting channels should be unblocked, and the interconnection and regular research and judgment should be strengthened for the clues of such problems as the elderly care institutions' illegal collection and use of pre charges, no refund or delayed refund without reason, and abnormal capital flow, so as to find the potential risks and deal with them in a timely and stable manner. The Ministry of Civil Affairs, together with relevant departments, shall track, understand, supervise and inspect the implementation of the Opinions to ensure that all measures are effective.
（13） Strengthen departmental coordination. The civil affairs department should regulate and supervise the pre charging behavior of elderly care institutions according to law, and take the lead in risk screening, monitoring and early warning. For development and reform, the financial department should work with the civil affairs department to improve the charging policies of public and private inclusive pension institutions, standardize the charging items and requirements for charging standards. The leading department for handling illegal fund-raising and the local branches and agencies of the financial management department of the State Council shall establish a monitoring mechanism for suspicious funds of illegal fund-raising, urge and guide commercial banks and non bank payment institutions to strengthen the monitoring of abnormal capital flows and other suspected suspicious funds of illegal fund-raising according to the division of responsibilities. Branches of the People's Bank of China shall coordinate with commercial banks to facilitate the opening of special deposit accounts for elderly care institutions. The market supervision department should strengthen the spot check on the charging behavior of elderly care institutions, and investigate and deal with the price violations of elderly care institutions such as the failure to implement government pricing, government guidance pricing, and the failure to clearly mark prices as required. Public security organs should strengthen coordination with civil affairs, the People's Bank of China, market supervision, financial supervision and other departments, and crack down on illegal fund-raising, fraud and other criminal acts committed by elderly care institutions in the name of pre charging.
（14） Properly link up policies. The pre charge of pension institutions shall be fully included in the scope of supervision, including the pre charge funds that have been collected but have not completed the service before the release of this opinion. The provincial civil affairs department should set up a reasonable transition period. The elderly care institutions that have collected deposits and membership fees before the release of this opinion should urge them to complete the procedures such as opening special deposit accounts and submitting information during the transition period. In the regions where the pre charge management measures have been issued, the policies should be well connected and applied. If the pre charge of the elderly care institution falls within the scope of adjustment of the local regulations on the management of single purpose prepaid cards, it shall also comply with the relevant regulations.
This opinion will come into force on October 1, 2024, and will be valid for five years.
Ministry of Civil Affairs Ministry of Public Security of National Development and Reform Commission
Ministry of Finance General Administration of Market Supervision of the People's Bank of China
General Administration of Financial Supervision
April 23, 2024
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