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(Adopted at the 44th Session of the Standing Committee of the
11th Shanghai Municipal People' s Congress on October 28, 2002)
Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1
With a view to protecting the
legitimate rights and interests of consumers, upholding the social economic
order, and promoting the
healthy development of a socialist market economy,
these Regulations are formulated in accordance with the "Law of the People' s
Republic of China on the Protection of Consumers' Rights and Interests" and other
relevant laws and administrative regulations,
and in the light of the actual
circumstances of this Municipality.
Article 2
The legitimate rights and
interests of consumers who purchase and use goods or receive services within the
administrative area of
this Municipality for their living and consumption needs
shall be protected by these Regulations. Where laws and administrative
regulations provide otherwise, such laws and regulations shall
prevail.
Business operators who provide the goods they produce and sell or
provide services for consumers shall abide by these Regulations.
Where laws and
administrative regulations provide otherwise, such laws and regulations shall
prevail.
Article 3
Business operators shall conduct their business
transactions with consumers in accordance with the principle of voluntariness,
equality,
fairness, and good faith.
The protection of the legitimate rights
and interests of consumers shall be based on the principle of the combination of
State protection,
self-discipline by business operators, and social
supervision.
The protection of the legitimate rights and interests of
consumers shall facilitate the exercise of their rights and be suited to
the
level of social and economic development.
Article 4
State organs in this
Municipality shall adopt measures according to their respective duties to
protect by law the legitimate rights
and interests of consumers from being
infringed.
Industrial and commercial administrative departments at all
levels and other relevant administrative departments shall strengthen
in
accordance with law their supervision of business operators, strictly
investigate and deal with all acts infringing the legitimate
rights and
interests of consumers ,and actively support the consumers' associations in their
work.
Article 5
Consumers' associations and other consumers' organizations
are mass organizations established according to law to protect the legitimate
rights and interests of the consumers.
Consumers' associations shall perform
their functions in accordance with law and actively play their role in
protecting the legitimate
rights and interests of the consumers.
Other
consumers' organizations shall exercise various forms of mass supervision that
aim at protecting the legitimate rights and
interests of the consumers.
Article 6
Relevant trade associations shall see that the business
operators in their respective trades operate in accordance with law and
strengthen self-discipline, and formulate rules of the trade that embody the
protection of the legitimate rights and interests of
the consumers.
Mass
media shall do well in publicizing the protection of the legitimate rights and
interests of consumers and expose and criticize
acts infringing on the
legitimate rights and interests of consumers.
All units and individual
persons shall have the right to subject acts infringing on the legitimate rights
and interests of consumers
to all forms of mass supervision.
Chapter II Rights of Consumers
Article 7
When purchasing and using goods or receiving services,
consumers shall have the right of ensuring their personal and property safety
from being jeopardized.
Consumers shall have the right to require that the
goods and services provided by the business operators meet the compulsory State
standards, trade standards and local standards on protecting the personal and
property safety. In the absence of the compulsory
State standards, trade
standards and local standards, the goods and service shall meet generally
accepted safety and health standards
of society at large.
Consumers shall
have the right to require business operators to provide safe consumption
premises and environment.
Article 8
When purchasing and using goods or
receiving services, consumers shall have the right to inquire about and know the
actual conditions
of the goods or services in question and the terms of
trade.
Consumers shall have the right to request the business operators of
the goods to provide information concerning the prices, places
of origin,
manufacturers, uses, performances, specifications, grades, main components, net
content, date of production, effective
period, certificates of inspection,
instructions on usage, skills of use, after-sale services, or the certificate of
ownership,
building structure and area composition of commodity housing, and to
request the providers of services to provide information concerning
the
contents, specifications, cost, standards, testing and inspection reports or
maintenance service records of the services.
Article 9
Consumers shall
have the right to choose by themselves the providers of goods or services, the
types of goods or modes of service,
and to decide for themselves to purchase or
not to purchase any particular goods and accept or not to accept a particular
service.
When choosing goods or services on their own, consumers shall have
the right to make comparisons, appraisals, and pick and choose.
Article 10
Consumers shall have the right to require the business operators to follow
the principle of fairness in providing goods or services.
When purchasing
goods or receiving services, consumers shall have the right to negotiate on an
equal footing prices and other terms
of trade, as well as the right to receive
goods and services of guaranteed quality, at reasonable prices and with accurate
measurements.
Article 11
When purchasing and using goods and receiving
services, consumers shall have the right to have their personality and ethnic
customs
and habits respected.
Article 12
Consumers shall have the right
to acquire knowledge of the protection of the legitimate rights and interests of
consumers, including
their rights, business operators' obligations and modes of
settling consumption disputes.
Article 13
Consumers shall have the right
to form mass organizations in accordance with law to protect their own
legitimate rights and interests.
Article 14
When purchasing and using
goods or receiving services, consumers shall have the right to claim damages
from business operators in
accordance with law, if their right to life and
health, names, portraits, reputation, honor, or privacy, or other rights of the
person is infringed upon.
When purchasing and using goods or receiving
services, consumers shall have the right to claim according to law damages from
business
operators for losses incurred, if their property is damaged. In the
absence of any specific provisions of relevant laws and regulations,
consumers
shall have the right to claim compensations from the business operators in line
with rules of the trade.
Article 15
Consumers shall have the right to
make comments and suggestions on the quality, prices and measurements of goods
and services, management
style and service attitude, as well as the right to
report to relevant administrative departments against the tortious nets of
business operators, and the right to report to mass media relevant circumstances
as they really are.
Consumers shall have the right to make comments and
suggestions on the modifications of those contents in the rules of the trade
formulated by trade associations or jointly agreed on by business operators that
are unfavorable to the protection of consumers.
Consumers shall have the
right to make suggestions to State organs on their work to protect the
legitimate rights and interests
of consumers and the right to criticize, impeach
or sue State organs and their staff for any violations of law or neglect of
their
duties in their work to protect the legitimate rights and interests of
consumers.
Consumers shall have the right to make comments and suggestions on
the work of consumers' associations and other consumers' organizations.
Chapter III Obligations of Business operators
Article 16
Where there are agreements with consumers, business operators
shall perform their obligations as agreed on.
Where business operators have
given express warranties to consumers for the quality and prices of goods or
services and their after-sale
obligations in publicized forms, such as
commercial advertisements, product descriptions, samples of actual goods, or
notices,
statements or announcements on shop premises, the quality and prices of
the goods or services they provide and their after-sale
obligations shall be
identical with what is expressly warranted. The consumers who are led by the
above express warranties to purchase
the goods or accept the services may
require the business operators to take such express warranties as the contents
of their agreements.
When providing goods or services, business operators
shall not lay down in the form of standard contract terms rules that are unfair
and unreasonable to consumers or other rules that exempt business operators from
their obligations, increase the obligations of
the consumers and eliminate the
rights of consumers.
Article 17
Business operators shall guarantee that
the goods, services, facilities and premises they provide meet the requirements
for the
protection of the personal and property safety of consumers.
Business
operators shall give consumers truthful explanations of and explicit warnings on
those goods, services, facilities and
premises that may endanger personal and
property safety, describe and indicate the correct ways to use such goods,
facilities and
premises or receive such services, as well as those for the
prevention of the occurrence of injury.
Business operators engaged in
adventurous entertainment business shall have proper technical conditions,
service equipment and necessary
protection and rescue facilities that will
ensure the personal safety of consumers, and formulate emergency schemes in
advance.
Article 18
When providing goods or services, business operators
shall not do the following acts:
(1)Insult or slander consumers;
(2)Search
the bodies of consumers or things they carry on their person;
(3)Violate the
personal freedom of consumers;
(4)Cause the permanent destruction or damage
of specified mementos that are of symbolic personal significance to
consumers;
Article 19
When providing goods or services, business
operators shall give consumers truthful introductions and explanations in clear
and explicit
terms or language and respond to the inquiries of consumers in a
truthful and honest manner;
When providing goods or services, business
operators shall take the initiative in line with law provisions, rules of the
trade,
and trade practice to inform consumers of the following facts or produce
relevant written documents:
(1)The prices, places of origin, manufacturers,
uses, performances, specifications, grades, main components, net contents,
production
dates, effective periods, certificates of inspection, instructions on
use, skills of use, after-sale services, or certificates of
ownership, building
structure and area composition of commodity housing;
(2)Contents,
specifications, costs, standards, testing or inspection reports or maintenance
service records of relevant services.
Article 20
The signs and marks of
goods or services provided by business operators shall conform to the provisions
of laws and regulations.
Goods provided by business operators that do not
reach standard grades stipulated, but still have use values shall be so marked
in conspicuous positions and so indicated in the vouchers of purchase for
consumers. Those who distribute imported goods as agents
shall indicate on the
goods the names and addresses of the agents.
Business operators providing
services shall put up in conspicuous positions of their business premises
service signs and marks,
which shall contain the following
information:
(1)The contents, quality standards and charge rates of
services;
(2)Points for attention in the course of services, restrictions and
cue points;
(3)Other contents related to services that should be indicated or
marked.
Article 21
When providing goods or services, business operators
shall see that their prices are clearly marked as required, to the extent that
both the labels and the prices are provided, the contents of the price labels
are true and unambiguous, the writings are legible,
the goods and labels match,
and the marks are eye-catching. In case of any price changes, timely adjustments
shall be made.
Business operators shall not sell goods or provide services at
prices higher than marked, nor collect any charges that are not
marked.
Article 22
When providing goods or services, business operators
shall not infringe upon the legitimate rights and interests of consumers by
such
fraudulent and deceitful practices as passing fakes for genuine and inferior for
superior goods, selling adulterated goods
and putting up false price labels.
Fraudulent and deceitful practices mentioned in the preceding clause, refer
to intentionally providing false information to consumers
or hiding facts and
truth from them, so as to lure consumers into acts that mistakenly express their
intent.
Article 23
Business operators shall display their true names and
signs in conspicuous positions in their business premises.
Those who rent
others' counters or premises for carrying out their business activities shall
display their true names and signs.
Business operators who engage in business
activities through Internet trade platforms shall display their true names,
addresses
and scope of business in conspicuous positions on the relevant web
page of the Internet.
Article 24
When providing goods or services,
business operators shall issue to consumers vouchers of purchase, service bills
or, at the request
of consumers, lists of charges in addition to vouchers of
purchase and service bills, in line with relevant State provisions or
trade
practices.
Article 25
Business operators shall not force consumers to buy
goods or accept services, sell on a tie-in basis goods or services, or attach
other unreasonable conditions against the will of consumers. The provision of
alternative services is subject to the prior consent
of consumers.
Article 26
If settlement for the sale of goods or provision of services by business
operators is based on quantity, legal measurement units
shall be indicated and
measurement appliances that are appropriate to their business or service items
and meet the State provisions
shall be provided and used.
The goods provided
by business operators shall not be short in quantity, nor shall they use the
weight of packing as the basis for
the pricing of goods. They shall not refuse
requests by consumers to verify the measurements.
Article 27
Business
operators shall inform consumers in advance of any stoppage in the provision of
goods or services attributable to their
own causes, and make appropriate
arrangements therefor. They shall make due compensations to consumers for any
damages caused to
consumers.
In case of any stoppage in the provision of
goods or services for reasons, such as failure to pay fees on the part of
consumers,
business operators of public utilities shall inform consumers thereof
in advance, and allow consumers necessary time to get prepared.
Article 28
Business operators who sell goods by mail, TV (telephone) or the Internet
shall ensure that the appearance, quality and performances
of the goods are the
same as advertised and deliver the goods within the time frame
promised.
Business operators who sell goods from door to door shall secure
the consent of the consumers to be visited. When making door-to-door
sales, the
sales persons shall produce documents showing authorization from the business
operators for door-to-door sales and the
IDs of the salespersons, and inform
consumers in writing of the functions, characteristics, model numbers and prices
of the goods
promoted, as well as their after-sale services and business
addresses.
Goods sold by business operators from door to door may be returned
by consumers without giving any reasons within seven days from
the date of
purchasing and receiving the goods, except those goods whose quality warranty
period is less than seven days. Consumers
shall not bear any expenses when
returning goods that are not soiled or damaged.
Article 29
When providing
goods or services, business operators shall not require consumers to provide
personal information that has nothing
to do with consumption.
Unless
otherwise provided by law and regulations, business operators shall not disclose
for any reason personal information of consumers
to third parties without the
consent of the consumers concerned.
Personal information, as mentioned in the
preceding two clauses, shall include the names, sex, occupations, education,
contact means,
marital status, income and property, finger prints, blood types,
medical history and other information that is closely related to
the consumers
themselves and their families.
Article 30
When sending commercial
advertisements to consumers, business operators shall not increase the expenses
for consumers without the
consent of the consumers.
Article 31
Business
operators shall undertake obligations to repair the goods they sell, and the
period of existence of such obligations shall
not be less than six months,
except for those goods that are low in value and easily consumable. Commodity
housing, automobiles
and other goods for which the State and this Municipality
have otherwise provided shall be subject to such provisions.
Business
operators shall undertake to replace goods in accordance with State provisions,
rules of the trade or contractual agreements.
In case of any one of the
following situations identified in connection with the goods or services
provided by business operators,
where consumers demand the remaking or the
return of goods or the refunding of payments, the business operators shall agree
to
the remaking or return of the goods, or refund the payments made, unless
otherwise provided by laws or regulations or agreed on
in the
contracts:
(1)The goods or services are found to be below standard upon
appraisal by appraisal institutions;
(2)The business operators resort to
fraud and cheating in providing goods or services;
(3)Quality problems are
identified in the goods within the period of guarantee provided by the State,
stipulated in the contract,
or promised by the business operators, and the
business operators refuse or do not have the ability to repair them, but do not
entrust any other person to repair them.
(4)Return of goods for refunding is
stipulated in the contract or promised by the business operators;
(5)It is
still impossible to put the goods to normal use even after having repaired twice
during the period of guarantee;
(6)In case of sale of the goods by the
business operators via mail, TV (telephone) or the Internet, the goods is found
to be not
identical with what is advertised and the consumers demand the return
of the goods within seven days from the date of receiving
the goods;
(7)Other
situations where the return of goods by consumers or refunding is provided by
laws, rules or regulations;
Business operators shall promptly perform their
obligations to repair, replace, remake, or accept the return goods and refund
within
the time limit provided by the State, or promised by the business
operators and they shall not delay deliberately.
Where the State has not
provided or the business operators have not promised a time limit for the
performance of the obligations
to repair, replace, remake, or accept the return
goods and refund, the business operators shall respond within twenty days from
the date of receiving the request from consumers for their performance of their
obligations, or within twenty days from the date
of receiving notification from
administrative departments that deal with consumer disputes or
consumers' associations requesting
them to perform their obligations.
Article
32
The provision of goods or services to consumers by business operators by
promotional means, such as prizes and giveaways, on the
condition that the
consumers purchase goods or accept services, shall not exempt the business
operators from their obligations
to repair, replace, remake, or accept the
return of those prizes and giveaways or those services provided as prizes or
gifts.
Article 33
If business operators have identified serious defects
in the goods or services they provide and such goods or services shall still
endanger the personal and property safety of consumers even if used or received
correctly, they shall immediately suspend or terminate
the sale of such goods or
the provision of such services. If the goods are already sold, emergency
measures shall be taken to inform
the consumers thereof and such goods shall be
called back for repairs, replacement or destruction, and at the same time,
reports
thereof shall be submitted to relevant administrative departments and
trade associations.
If serious defects mentioned in the preceding clause are
identified in the goods or services provided, and the business operators
fail to
take measures provided in the preceding clause, relevant administrative
departments shall require according to law the
business operators to suspend or
stop at once the sale of such goods or the provision of such services, and to
recall the goods
already sold.
When the Municipal Consumers' Association
identifies serious defects in goods or services, it may make appropriate
suggestions to
relevant administrative departments.
Article 34
Business
operators shall keep all the original invoices, bills and other documents
received when purchasing their goods, which may
prove the source of the goods
they purchase, and establish a day-to-day account therefor.
Business
operators shall listen to comments from consumers and deal with their complaints
in a timely manner.
Article 35
The business operators and managers of
commodity trading markets and the providers of premises (counters) shall put up
bulletin
boards in conspicuous positions in trading places to publicize matters
related to the safeguarding of the legitimate rights and
interests of
consumers.
The industrial and commercial administrative departments shall be
responsible for the supervision of the establishment of such bulletin
boards and
the contents they publicize.
Chapter IV State Protection
Article 36
When formulating laws, rules, regulations and policies
concerning the protection of the legitimate rights and interests of consumers,
the State organs of this Municipality shall solicit the opinions and requests of
consumers' organizations and consumers.
Article 37
The municipal, district
and county people' s governments shall strengthen their leadership of the
protection of the legitimate rights
and interests of consumers, organize,
coordinate and supervise and urge relevant administrative departments in
ensuring the effective
protection of the legitimate rights and interests of
consumers.
Industrial and commercial administrative departments, quality and
technical supervision departments, trade, urban transportation,
tourism,
construction, housing and land resources and other relevant administrative
departments shall solicit the opinions of consumers,
accept and handle the
consumers' complaints that fall within the scope of their respective duties and
strengthen market supervision
so as to protect the legitimate rights and
interests of consumers.
Article 38
The municipal, district and county
industrial and commercial administrative departments and quality and technical
supervision departments
may exercise the following functions and
powers:
(1)To carry out on the spot checkups on places of illegal production
and marketing activities of parties suspected of infringement
on the legitimate
rights and interests of consumers;
(2)To find facts and information from the
legal representatives and leading officials of parties and other personnel
concerned on
suspected illegal production and marketing activities infringing on
the legitimate rights and interests of consumers;
(3)To examine and copy
relevant contracts, invoices, account books and other materials of parties
concerned;
(4)To sequester or seize those goods with serious defects, when
there are grounds to believe that they will endanger the personal
and property
safety of consumers.
Other administrative departments shall investigate and
deal with suspected infringement on the legitimate rights and interests of
consumers in accordance with their respective functions and powers provided by
law.
Article 39
People' s courts at all levels of this Municipality shall
take measures in accordance with the provisions of the "Civil Procedure
Law of
the People' s Republic of China" to hear cases of consumption disputes in a timely
manner, and protect the legitimate rights
and interests of consumers in
accordance with law.
Chapter V Consumers' Organizations
Article 40
Consumers' associations shall be established in accordance with
law at the municipal, district and county levels.
The boards of directors of
consumers' associations shall be composed of representatives of consumers and
representatives appointed
by relevant administrative departments.
The
Municipal Consumers' Associations shall establish such specialized working bodies
as it deems necessary for its work.
Other consumers' organizations shall be
established according to law and in accordance with relevant provisions on the
administration
of mass organizations.
Article 41
Consumers' associations
shall perform the following functions:
(1)To make suggestions to people' s
governments of all levels and their working departments on the protection of the
legitimate
rights and interests of consumers and to make suggestions and
proposals to business operators on the improvement and perfection
of measures to
protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers;
(2)To publicize
laws and regulations on the protection of the legitimate rights and interests of
consumers, and carry out the education
campaigns on knowledge of
consumption;
(3)To regularly conduct investigation, comparisons and analyses
of the quality, prices and after-sale services of goods and services,
as well as
of the comments of consumers, and to provide consultancy services to
consumers;
(4)To accept and handle complaints from consumers, conduct
investigations into and mediations on the subjects of complaints, and
submit
them for appraisals by legal organs, or put forward their suggestions to be
transmitted to relevant departments and units
for handling;
(5)To participate
in the supervision, inspection and testing conducted by relevant administrative
departments and trade associations
on the quality, prices, safety, hygiene and
measurements of goods and services;
(6)To report to relevant administrative
departments and trade associations any infringement on the legitimate rights and
interests
of consumers, and make inquiries and suggestions thereupon;
(7)To
expose and criticize via mass media any infringement on the legitimate rights
and interests of consumers;
(8)To support consumers in filing actions or
applying for arbitrations in accordance with law;
(9)Other work related to
the protection of the legitimate rights and interests of consumers.
People' s
governments at all levels shall provide guidance, support and assistance for
consumers' associations in performing their
functions in accordance with law, as
well as necessary financial support.
Article 42
The Municipal
Consumers' Association shall from time to time issue information about
consumption warnings and consumption guidance,
based on the results of handling
consumer complaints in this Municipality, and in response to the demand of
consumers, so as to
help consumers to enhance their ability to protect
themselves, and guide them in developing a scientific and rational consumption
pattern.
Article 43
The Municipal Consumers' Association shall conduct
annual surveys in certain number of trades and report the results of these
surveys
to the Municipal People' s Government and its working departments, based
on the complaints of the consumers and the needs of the
work to protect the
legitimate rights and interests of consumers. Relevant administrative
departments, trade associations and business
operators shall render their
support and cooperation in this regard.
Article 44
The Municipal
Consumers' Association may disclose to the general public complaints from
consumers that have been verified.
Article 45
Consumers' associations and
other consumers' organizations shall not recommend for profits goods and services
to the public, accept
any payment of expenses from business operators or
apportion the business operators any expenses.
The consumption information
released by the Municipal Consumers' Association, the reports of surveys it
submits and its disclosure
of consumers' complaints shall be legal, objective and
impartial.
Article 46
Relevant administrative departments and trade
associations shall convey to the Municipal Consumers' Association in a timely
manner
any information concerning the legitimate rights and interests of
consumers. Any inquiries from consumers' associations concerning
matters related
to the protection of the legitimate rights and interests of consumers shall be
answered promptly.
Chapter VI Mode of Settlement of Disputes
Article 47
Business operators and consumers are encouraged to settle
consumption disputes through consultation and conciliations. The conciliations
reached between the two parties shall not violate the provisions of laws, rules
and regulations, public interests of society at
large and the legitimate rights
and interests of others.
Article 48
Consumers' associations shall promptly
handle complaints from consumers. Reasons shall be given to consumers, should
such complaints
do not fall within their scope of acceptance and
handling.
Consumers' associations shall provide conveniences for consumers in
filing their complaints.
Article 49
After accepting and handling a
complaint, a consumers' association shall complete its mediation process within
sixty days. However,
if the consumers request to continue the mediation, the
time limit for mediation shall be extended to a reasonable extent.
If
agreement is reached as a result of the mediation of the consumers' association,
the consumers' association shall prepare a conciliation
agreement upon the
request from both parties to the consumption dispute. Should such mediation
efforts fail, the consumers' association
shall inform the parties concerned of
other ways of settlement.
If in the course of accepting and handling a
consumption dispute, the consumers' association finds that the consumption
disputes
has been accepted and handled or mediated by other
consumers' associations, it may terminate the acceptance and handling.
If the
consumers' association believes that the business operators have done illegal
operational activities that infringe on the
legitimate rights and interests of
consumers, the consumers' association shall inform in writing relevant
administrative departments
thereof, which shall deal with them in a timely
manner and inform the consumers' association in writing of the results of their
handling process.
Article 50
Consumers may file petitions with relevant
administrative departments on consumption disputes.
After accepting the
petitions from the consumers, the relevant administrative departments shall
examine the operational activities
of the business operators in accordance with
law, take actions according to law if it is established that the operational
activities
of the business operators violate the provisions of laws, rules or
regulations, and supervise and urge the business operators to
make due
compensations, or assume other civil liabilities to the consumers, where damages
are done to the consumers.
Article 51
In order to settle a consumption
dispute, consumers may apply for arbitration under the arbitration agreement or
file actions according
to law. After receiving the case, the arbitration
commission or the people' s court shall deal with the consumption dispute in a
summary procedure in accordance with law.
Article 52
When filing
complaints with consumers' associations or petitions with relevant administrative
departments, consumers shall provide
the actual items of goods, purchase
vouchers, service bills or other evidences that can prove the existence of
consumption relationship.
Article 53
If it is necessary to conduct tests
or appraisals in a dispute over the quality of goods or services, consumers and
business operators
may conduct such tests or appraisals as agreed on between the
two parties. In the absence of such an agreement, the consumers' associations
or
administrative departments dealing with the consumption complaints or petitions
shall authorize or designate duly qualified
testing institutions or professional
institutions to conduct such tests or appraisals.
The expenses of testing and
appraisals, to be paid first by the business operators for the parties to the
dispute with an equal
amount of security provided by the consumers, shall
finally be borne by the liable party, or be shared by the two parties, if it
is
impossible to determine the liability.
When the consumers' associations or
relevant administrative departments find it necessary to conduct tests or
appraisals in dealing
with consumers' complaints or petitions, relevant testing
institutes shall accept such requests, and produce testing or appraisal
reports
in a truthful manner. Reasons shall be given if it is impossible to conduct the
tests or appraisals requested.
Chapter VII Legal Liability
Article 54
Business operators who do not perform their obligations
provided by Chapter III of these Regulations and cause detriment to the
legitimate rights and interests of consumers, shall assume corresponding civil
liabilities in accordance with the provisions of
the "Law of the People' s
Republic of China on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Consumers" ,
other related laws, regulations
and these Regulations, and the wrongdoer whose
act constitutes a crime shall be prosecuted for the criminal liability in
accordance
with criminal law.
Article 55
Business operators who cheat in
their provision of goods or services shall increase their compensations for the
losses sustained
by consumers as demanded by the consumers and the amount of the
increase in compensation shall be one time the price of the goods
purchased by
the consumers or the expenses of the services received.
Article 56
If
business operators have any one of the following circumstances, for which
the "Law of the People' s Republic of China on the
Protection of the Rights and
Interests of Consumers" , the "Law of the People' s Republic of China on the
Quality of Products"
, and other related laws and regulations have provisions on
the administrative punishment organs, as well as the types and range
of
punishments, the provisions of such laws and regulations shall apply. If any
such law or regulations does not have such provisions,
the industrial and
commercial administrative departments shall order the business operators to make
corrections and may£¬separately
or cumulatively£¬give warnings, confiscate the
illegal gains, confiscate the illegal property, or impose fines between not less
than one time and not more than five times the illegal gains, depending on
specific circumstances. In case there are no illegal
gains, fines less than ten
thousand yuan shall be imposed. In serious cases, orders shall be issued to
suspend the business for
rectification:
(1)Failure to put up service marks as
required;
(2)Failure to indicate true names and post marks as
required;
(3)Provision of goods or services by fraudulent and deceitful means
that infringe on the legitimate rights and interests of consumers;
(4)Failure
to provide purchase vouchers or service bills as required;
(5)Forcing
consumers to purchase goods or accept services;
(6)Giving goods less than the
proper quantity or using the weight of packing materials as the basis for the
pricing of goods;
(7)Failure to secure the consent of consumers or provide
documents required for door-to-door sales;
(8)Distributing commercial
advertisements and increasing the expenses of consumers without their
consent;
(9)Inability to provide documents to prove the sources of their
purchased goods.
Article 57
Business operators who violate these
Regulations, shall assume civil liabilities and pay fines. Where their property
is not enough
to make payments at the same time, they shall first assume civil
liabilities for compensations.
Article 58
Consumers whose legitimate
rights and interests are infringed on in purchasing and using goods may claim
compensations from the
sellers. If the liability for the violations is
attributable to the producers or other sellers who provide the goods to the
sellers,
the sellers concerned shall have recourse against the producers or the
other sellers for compensations after paying the compensations.
If consumers
or other injured party suffer personal or property damages due to defects of
goods, they may claim compensations from
the seller or the producers. If the
liability lies with the producers, the seller shall have recourse against the
producers after
paying the compensations. If the sellers are held liable, the
producers shall have recourse against the sellers after paying the
compensations.
Consumers, whose legitimate rights and interests are infringed
on in receiving services, may claim compensations from the business
operators
who provide the services. Where the business operators providing the services
are not held liable, the service providers
shall have recourse against the
liable party.
Article 59
Parties who object to the specific
administrative acts of the industrial and commercial administrative departments
and other relevant
administrative departments may apply for administrative
reconsideration or file administrative actions in accordance with the provisions
of the "Law of the People' s Republic of China on Administrative
Reconsideration' or the "Law of Administrative Litigation of the
People' s Republic
of China" .
If the parties do not apply for reconsideration of or file actions
against the specific administrative acts within the prescribed
time limit, and
refuse to perform them, the industrial and commercial administrative departments
and other administrative departments
making the specific administrative acts
shall apply to the people' s court for enforcement.
Article 60
Personnel
in direct charge and other directly responsible personnel in the industrial and
commercial administrative departments
and other relevant administrative
departments, as well as the working staff of the consumers' associations, who
neglect their duties,
abuse their powers or play favoritism and commit
irregularities, shall be subjected to disciplinary sanctions by their own units
or the higher competent departments according to law. Those whose wrongful act
constitutes a crime shall be prosecuted for criminal
liability.
Chapter VIII Supplementary Provisions
Article 61
Peasants who purchase and use the means of production that are
to be directly used in agriculture and sideline production shall refer
to these
Regulations for implementation.
Article 62
These Regulations shall become
effective from January 1, 2003. The "Regulations of Shanghai Municipality on the
Protection of the
Legitimate Rights and Interests of Consumers" adopted on
December 22, 1988 at the fifth session of the Standing Committee of the
Ninth
Shanghai Municipal People' s Congress shall at the same time be repealed.
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