Decree of the State Council of the People's Republic of China
No. 778
The Regulations for the Implementation of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Consumers' Rights and Interests, adopted at the 26th executive meeting of the State Council on February 23, 2024, are hereby promulgated and shall come into force as of July 1, 2024.
Premier Li Qiang
March 15, 2024
Regulations for the Implementation of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Consumers
general provisions
Article 1 These Regulations are formulated in accordance with the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Consumers (hereinafter referred to as the Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Consumers) and other laws.
Article 2 The protection of consumers' rights and interests should adhere to the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the people as the center, and the principles of legality, fairness and efficiency.
Article 3 The state has strengthened the protection of consumers' legitimate rights and interests, and established and improved a common governance system for the protection of consumers' rights and interests that combines operator law-abiding, industry self-discipline, consumer participation, government supervision and social supervision.
Article 4 The state promotes the construction of the consumption environment as a whole, creates a safe and secure consumption environment, and enhances the fundamental role of consumption in economic development.
Article 5 The State strengthens the construction of a standard system for consumer goods and services, encourages business operators to formulate and implement enterprise standards that are stricter than national standards or industry standards, and constantly improves the quality of goods and services.
Article 6 The state advocates a civilized, healthy and green consumption concept and mode, and opposes extravagance and waste.
Chapter II Rights of Consumers and Obligations of Business Operators
Article 7 When purchasing commodities, using commodities or receiving services, consumers shall, in accordance with law, enjoy the right to personal and property safety without damage.
When providing goods or services to consumers (including providing goods or services free of charge to consumers in the form of rewards, gifts, trials, etc.), business operators shall ensure that the goods or services meet the requirements for safeguarding the safety of persons and property. Where a free commodity or service is defective but does not violate the mandatory provisions of the law and does not affect the normal use performance, the business operator shall truthfully inform consumers before providing the commodity or service.
Business operators shall ensure that their business sites and facilities meet the requirements for ensuring personal and property safety, take necessary safety protection measures, and set up corresponding warning signs. When a consumer encounters danger or is infringed upon in the business premises, the business operator shall provide timely and necessary assistance.
Article 8 If a consumer believes that the goods or services provided by a business operator may have defects that may endanger the safety of person and property, it may report the situation or make suggestions to the business operator or the relevant administrative department.
Where a business operator discovers that the goods or services it provides may have defects that may endanger the safety of person and property, it shall take relevant measures in a timely manner in accordance with the provisions of Article 19 of the Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Consumers. Where recall measures are taken, business operators producing or importing commodities shall formulate recall plans, publish recall information, clearly inform consumers of their relevant rights, keep complete recall records, and bear the necessary expenses incurred by consumers due to the recall of commodities. Business operators related to commodity sales, leasing, repair, parts production and supply, entrusted production, etc. shall perform the obligations of assistance and cooperation related to recall according to law.
Article 9 Business operators shall provide consumers with true and comprehensive information about goods or services in a way that is easy to understand. They shall not conduct false or misleading publicity, deception Misleading consumers.
Business operators shall not set different prices or charging standards for the same commodity or service under the same trading conditions without the knowledge of consumers.
Article 10 Business operators shall, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the State, clearly indicate the name and price of the commodity, the pricing unit or the item, content, price, pricing method and other information of the service, so as to ensure that the price tag is complete, the content is true and accurate, and the logo is clear and eye-catching.
Where a business operator provides services by means of automatic renewal or automatic renewal, it shall, before the consumer accepts the service and before the date of automatic renewal or automatic renewal, draw the attention of the consumer in a conspicuous manner.
Article 11 Consumers have the right to choose their own goods or services. Business operators shall not force or in disguised form force consumers to buy goods or accept services, or exclude or restrict consumers from choosing goods or services provided by other business operators by means of violence, coercion, restriction of personal freedom or other means or by using technical means. Where a business operator provides a commodity or service by means of collocation or combination, it shall bring it to the attention of consumers in a conspicuous manner.
Article 12 Where a business operator provides a commodity or service by means of commercial publicity, product recommendation, physical display or notice, statement, shop notice, etc., and makes a commitment to the quantity, quality, price, after-sales service, liability, etc. of the commodity or service, it shall fulfill its commitment to the consumer who purchases the commodity or receives the service.
Article 13 A business operator shall indicate its true name and mark in a prominent position on its business premises.
Where an operator provides goods or services through the Internet, television, telephone, mail order, etc., it shall clearly indicate or explain its true name and mark on its home page, video screen, voice, commodity catalog, etc. Where other business operators actually provide goods or services, they shall also provide consumers with the name, business address, contact information and other information of the business operators.
Where an operator leases another person's counter or venue to provide goods or services, or provides goods or services through propaganda, lottery, centralized experience, etc., it shall clearly indicate its true name and mark. The lessor of the counter or venue shall establish an on-site operation and management system to verify, update and publicize the relevant information of the operator for consumers to inquire.
Article 14 Business operators that provide goods or services through webcast or other means shall fulfill the obligations related to the protection of consumers' rights and interests according to law.
The operator of the live broadcast marketing platform shall establish and improve the consumer rights and interests protection system and clarify the consumer dispute resolution mechanism. In case of consumption disputes, the operator of the live broadcast marketing platform shall provide necessary information such as the operator of the live broadcast room, the live broadcast marketing personnel, and the records of relevant business activities according to the requirements of consumers.
If the live broadcast content released by the live broadcast room operator or live broadcast marketer constitutes a commercial advertisement, it shall fulfill the obligations of the advertisement publisher, advertising agent or advertising spokesperson in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Advertising Law of the People's Republic of China.
Article 15 Business operators shall not, through false or misleading publicity, fabricate or exaggerate the efficacy of commodities or services in treatment, health care, health preservation, etc., to induce consumers such as the elderly to purchase commodities or services that obviously do not meet their actual needs.
Article 16 Operators who provide online game services shall comply with the provisions and standards of the state on the relevant time period, duration, functions and content of online game services, set up corresponding time management, authority management, consumption management and other functions for minors, strictly conduct user verification in registration, login and other links, and protect the physical and mental health of minors according to law.
Article 17 Where business operators use standard terms, they shall comply with the provisions of Article 26 of the Law on the Protection of Consumers' Rights and Interests. Operators shall not use standard terms to unreasonably exempt or reduce their responsibilities, increase consumers' responsibilities, or restrict consumers' rights to change or terminate contracts, choose litigation or arbitration to resolve consumption disputes, and choose other operators' goods or services according to law.
Article 18 The term of validity of the obligations of return, replacement, repair, etc. agreed by the business operator and the consumer shall not be less than the requirements of the relevant national regulations. The term of validity is calculated from the date when the operator delivers the goods or provides services to consumers. For the goods that need to be installed by the operator, the term of validity is calculated from the date when the installation of the goods is completed. After the business operator performs the replacement obligation to the consumer, the validity period of the replacement, repair and other obligations shall be recalculated from the date of completion of the replacement. The repair time of the operator shall not be included in the above validity period.
Where a business operator fulfills its obligation of return of goods in accordance with the relevant provisions of the State or an agreement with a consumer, it shall refund the relevant amount in a lump sum at the price shown on the purchase certificate or service document such as the invoice. If the operator can prove that the price actually paid by the consumer is inconsistent with the price shown on the purchase certificate or service document such as the invoice, the relevant amount shall be refunded according to the price actually paid by the consumer.
Article 19 Business operators who sell commodities through the Internet, television, telephone, mail order and other means shall comply with the provisions of Article 25 of the Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Consumers, and shall not arbitrarily expand the scope of commodities that are not suitable for returns without reason.
A business operator shall, in a conspicuous manner, mark the goods that are not suitable for return without reason, prompt consumers to confirm when purchasing, and shall not take the goods that are not suitable for return without reason as an option agreed by consumers by default. Without the confirmation of consumers, business operators shall not refuse to return without reason.
The goods returned by consumers shall be in good condition. Where a consumer needs to open the package of a commodity for inspection, or conducts reasonable debugging to confirm the quality and function of a commodity without affecting the original quality, function and appearance of the commodity, the business operator shall return the commodity.
A consumer shall follow the principle of good faith when returning goods without reason, and shall not damage the legitimate rights and interests of business operators and other consumers by taking advantage of the rules for returning goods without reason.
Article 20 Where a business operator collects a deposit when providing goods or services, it shall agree in advance with consumers on the way, procedure and time limit for returning the deposit, and may not set unreasonable conditions for returning the deposit.
If a consumer requests a refund of the deposit and the conditions for the refund of the deposit are met, the business operator shall return the deposit in a timely manner.
Article 21 If an operator decides to suspend business or relocate its service site, it shall announce the effective contact information of the operator 30 days in advance on its business site, website, home page of online stores, etc.
Article 22 Where a business operator provides a commodity or service by collecting an advance payment, it shall conclude a written contract with a consumer to specify the specific content of the commodity or service, the price or fee, the method of refund of the advance payment, liability for breach of contract, etc.
After receiving the advance payment, business operators shall provide goods or services in accordance with the agreement with consumers, and shall not reduce the quality of goods or services or arbitrarily increase prices. Where a business operator fails to provide goods or services in accordance with the contract, it shall, at the request of the consumer, perform the contract or refund the advance payment.
Where an operator has significant operational risks that may affect the normal provision of goods or services by the operator in accordance with the contract or trading practices, the advance payment shall be stopped. If a business operator decides to suspend business or relocate a service site, it shall inform consumers in advance and fulfill its obligations under Article 21 of these Regulations. In accordance with the relevant provisions of the State or contractual agreements, consumers have the right to require business operators to continue to perform their obligations to provide goods or services, or to demand the return of the balance of the advance payment that has not been consumed.
Article 23 Business operators shall protect consumers' personal information according to law. When providing goods or services, business operators shall not excessively collect consumers' personal information, nor force or in a disguised form force consumers to agree to collect and use personal information that is not directly related to business activities by means of one-time general authorization or default authorization.
Operators shall comply with relevant laws and administrative regulations when dealing with sensitive personal information including consumers' biometrics, religious beliefs, specific identity, medical care, financial accounts, whereabouts and other information, as well as personal information of minors under 14 years of age.
Article 24 Without the consent of consumers, business operators shall not send commercial information or make commercial telephone calls to consumers. Where consumers agree to receive commercial information or commercial telephone calls, operators shall provide clear and convenient cancellation methods. If a consumer chooses to cancel, a business operator shall immediately stop sending commercial information or making commercial telephone calls.
Chapter III State Protection of the Legal Rights and Interests of Consumers
Article 25 People's governments at all levels shall strengthen guidance on the protection of consumers' rights and interests, organize, coordinate and urge relevant administrative departments to implement their duties in the protection of consumers' rights and interests, and improve the level of legalization of the protection of consumers' rights and interests.
Article 26 Where a dispute arises between a consumer and a business operator over the rights and interests of consumers, the consumer may file a complaint with the market supervision and administration department or other relevant administrative departments.
Natural persons, legal persons or other organizations may report to the market supervision and administration department or other relevant administrative departments, and reflect the clues of operators suspected of breaking the law.
Article 27 The market supervision and administration department or other relevant administrative departments shall unblock and standardize the channels for consumer complaints and reports, improve the procedures for handling complaints and reports, accept and handle complaints and reports in a timely manner according to law, strengthen the analysis and application of complaints and reports, and carry out consumption early warning and risk warning.
Complaints and reports shall comply with laws, regulations and relevant provisions, and shall not be used to seek illegitimate interests, infringe upon the legitimate rights and interests of business operators, and disrupt the market economic order.
Article 28 The market supervision and administration department and other relevant administrative departments shall strengthen the coordination and information sharing in the protection of consumers' rights and interests, implement supervision measures such as spot check and inspection on the goods and services provided by business operators within their respective duties in accordance with the provisions of laws and regulations, and promptly investigate and deal with acts that infringe upon the legitimate rights and interests of consumers.
Article 29 The market supervision and administration department and other relevant administrative departments should strengthen the construction of the credit system in the consumption field, publicize the relevant information such as administrative licensing, administrative punishment, sampling inspection results, and consumer complaints according to law, and punish illegal and dishonest operators according to law.
Article 30 Relevant administrative departments should strengthen the publicity and popularization of consumption knowledge, advocate civilized, healthy and green consumption, and improve consumers' awareness and ability to safeguard their rights in accordance with the law and rationally; Strengthen the publicity of law popularization, administrative guidance and compliance guidance for operators, and improve their awareness of operating according to law.
Article 31 The State improves the standards, certification and information disclosure system of green consumption, encourages business operators to make information disclosure or commitment on green consumption of goods and services, and investigates and deals with false information disclosure and commitment according to law.
Article 32 Industry associations, chambers of commerce and other organizations should strengthen self-discipline in the industry, guide and urge operators to operate in good faith and in compliance with the law. The industry rules, self-discipline rules, model contracts and relevant standards formulated should be conducive to protecting the legitimate rights and interests of consumers.
Article 33 The State encourages and supports all organizations and individuals to exercise social supervision over acts that harm the legitimate rights and interests of consumers.
The mass media shall truthfully, objectively and impartially report the relevant matters involving the rights and interests of consumers, strengthen the publicity and popularization of the knowledge related to the protection of consumers' rights, and supervise the acts that damage the legitimate rights and interests of consumers by public opinion.
Chapter IV Consumer Organizations
Article 34 Consumer associations and other legally established consumer organizations shall perform their duties in accordance with the provisions of the Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Consumers.
Article 35 People's governments at all levels shall strengthen the organization construction of consumer associations and provide necessary funds and other support for consumer associations to perform their duties.
Article 36 The relevant administrative departments shall carefully listen to the opinions and suggestions of consumer associations. The relevant administrative departments shall promptly investigate and deal with the problems of infringing upon the legitimate rights and interests of consumers reported by consumer associations to the relevant administrative departments and give a reply; The relevant administrative departments shall inform the consumer associations of the results of the cases filed for investigation.
Article 37 Consumer associations should strengthen the publicity of law popularization and consumption guidance, provide consumers with consumer protection services and support, and improve consumers' ability to safeguard their legitimate rights and interests.
Consumer associations shall timely summarize and promote typical cases and experience and practices to protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, and guide and support operators to carry out business activities in accordance with laws and regulations.
Article 38 Consumer associations can organize comparative tests, consumer surveys, consumer reviews, the publication of complaint information, the identification of complained goods, and the issuance of consumer warnings to reflect the status of goods and services, consumer opinions, and consumer rights protection.
Article 39 Consumer associations may put forward suggestions for improvement or conduct guidance talks with relevant business operators and trade organizations on consumer protection matters, strengthen the organization and coordination of consumers, business operators, trade organizations, professional institutions, relevant administrative departments and other relevant parties, and promote the resolution of important issues related to the protection of consumers' legitimate rights and interests.
Article 40 The consumer association may carry out investigations on consumer complaints that harm the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, verify the situation with relevant operators, invite relevant operators to present their opinions on facts, provide evidence, etc.
Article 41 The Chinese Consumer Association and consumer associations established in provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government may bring a lawsuit to the people's court against acts that infringe upon the legitimate rights and interests of a large number of consumers.
Chapter V Settlement of Disputes
Article 42 Consumers should consume in a civilized and rational manner, improve their self-protection awareness, safeguard their legitimate rights and interests in accordance with the law, and safeguard their rights and interests in case of consumption disputes in accordance with the law.
Article 43 The market supervision and administration departments of the people's governments at all levels and other relevant administrative departments should promote and improve the diversified settlement mechanism of consumption disputes, and guide consumers to safeguard their legitimate rights and interests through consultation, mediation, complaints, arbitration, litigation and other means according to law.
Article 44 Operators shall establish a convenient and efficient complaint handling mechanism to resolve consumption disputes in a timely manner.
Encourage and guide operators to establish and improve systems of first inquiry responsibility, first compensation, online dispute resolution, etc., to prevent and resolve consumption disputes in a timely manner.
Article 45 Where a consumer and a business operator have a consumption dispute and request the consumer association or other mediation organizations established according to law to mediate, the relevant organizations shall deal with it in a timely manner.
Article 46 If consumers and business operators complain to the market supervision and administration department or other relevant administrative departments in the event of a consumption dispute, they shall provide true identity information, with clear respondents, specific complaints and factual basis.
The relevant administrative department shall handle the complaint and inform the consumer within 7 working days from the date of receiving the complaint. If the decision to reject a complaint that does not conform to the provisions is made, the consumer shall be informed of the reasons for rejection and other ways to resolve the dispute.
After the relevant administrative department accepts the complaint, if consumers and business operators agree to mediate, the relevant administrative department shall timely mediate according to its duties and complete the mediation within 60 days from the date of acceptance; If mediation fails, mediation shall be terminated. If identification and testing are required during mediation, the time for identification and testing shall not be counted as 60 days.
With the consent of consumers and business operators, the relevant administrative departments may entrust consumer associations or other mediation organizations established according to law to mediate complaints.
Article 47 Where it is necessary to appraise and test the quality of commodities or services due to consumption disputes, consumers and business operators may negotiate to determine the appraisal and testing institutions. If consensus cannot be reached, the market supervision and administration department or other relevant administrative departments that accept consumer complaints may designate appraisal and testing institutions.
For major, complex consumption disputes involving the legitimate rights and interests of a large number of consumers, the market supervision and administration department or other relevant administrative departments may incorporate them into the sampling inspection procedures and entrust institutions with corresponding qualifications to conduct identification and testing.
Chapter VI Legal Liability
Article 48 Business operators who violate the relevant provisions of the Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Consumers and these Regulations in providing commodities or services and infringe upon the legitimate rights and interests of consumers shall bear civil liability according to law.
Article 49 Where a business operator commits fraud in providing goods or services, consumers have the right to demand compensation from the business operator in accordance with the provisions of the first paragraph of Article 55 of the Consumer Protection Law. However, except that the labels, instructions, publicity materials, etc. of goods or services have defects that do not affect the quality of goods or services and will not mislead consumers.
The provisions of the first paragraph of Article 55 of the Law on the Protection of Consumers' Rights and Interests shall not apply if the operator is defrauded of compensation or extorted by means of carrying, swapping, falsifying, altering the production date of commodities, fabricating facts, etc., and shall be dealt with in accordance with the Law of the People's Republic of China on Administrative Penalties for Public Security and other relevant laws and regulations; If a crime is constituted, criminal responsibility shall be investigated according to law.
Article 50 Where an operator violates the provisions of Articles 10 to 14, 16, 17, 19 to 21 of these Regulations, and other relevant laws and regulations stipulate the punishment organ and punishment method, the provisions of the laws and regulations shall prevail; If there are no provisions in laws and regulations, the market supervision and administration department or other relevant administrative departments shall order it to make corrections, and may, according to the circumstances, impose a single or concurrent warning, confiscate the illegal income, or impose a fine of not less than one time but not more than five times the illegal income, or impose a fine of not more than 300000 yuan if there is no illegal income; If the circumstances are serious, it shall be ordered to suspend business for rectification and its business license shall be revoked.
Where an operator violates the provisions of Article 22 of these Regulations, the relevant administrative department shall order it to make corrections, and may, depending on the circumstances, impose a single or concurrent warning, confiscate the illegal income, and impose a fine of not less than one time but not more than 10 times the illegal income, or impose a fine of not more than 500000 yuan if there is no illegal income; If the circumstances are serious, it shall be ordered to suspend business for rectification and its business license shall be revoked.
Business operators who violate other provisions of these Regulations shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of Article 56 of the Consumer Protection Law.
Article 51 If an operator actively eliminates or mitigates the harmful consequences of an illegal act, if the illegal act is minor and corrected in time without causing harmful consequences, or if it violates the law for the first time with minor harmful consequences and corrected in time, it shall be given a lighter, mitigated or no punishment in accordance with the Administrative Punishment Law of the People's Republic of China.
Article 52 Any staff member of the relevant administrative department who fails to perform the duty of protecting the rights and interests of consumers in accordance with the provisions of these Regulations, neglects his duty or covers up the acts of business operators that infringe upon the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, shall be given sanctions according to law; If a crime is constituted, criminal responsibility shall be investigated according to law.
Chapter VII Supplementary Provisions
Article 53 These Regulations shall come into force as of July 1, 2024.
