Regulations of Shanghai Municipality on the Protection of Consumers' Rights and Interests

· Document Number：Announcement No. 19 of the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal People's Congress

· Area of Law： Industrial and Commercial Management

· Level of Authority： Provincial Local Regulations

· Date issued：11-20-2014

· Effective Date：01-01-2003

· Status： Effective

· Issuing Authority： Shanghai Municipality People's Congress (incl. Standing Committee)

Regulations of Shanghai Municipality on the Protection of Consumers' Rights and Interests
(Adopted at the 44th Session of the Standing Committee of the Eleventh Shanghai Municipal People's Congress on October 28, 2002, and amendedaccording to the Decision on Amending the Regulations of Shanghai Municipality on the Protection of Consumers' Rights and Interests madeat the 16th Session of the Standing Committee of the Fourteenth Shanghai Municipal People's Congress on November 20, 2014)
Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1 To protect consumers' legitimate rights and interests,maintain the social and economic order, and promote the healthydevelopment of 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 light of the actual circumstances of the Municipality.
Article 2 Where consumers purchase and use commodities or receive services for daily consumptionneeds within the administrative area of this Municipality, their legitimate rights and interests shall be protected by these Regulations, except as otherwise provided by laws or administrative regulations.
In providing commodities produced or sold by them or services for consumers, business operators shall comply with these Regulations, except as otherwise provided by laws or administrative regulations.
Article 3 When conducting transactions, business operators and consumers shall adhere to the principles of free will, equality, fairness and good faith.
The protection of consumers' legitimate rights and interests shall follow the principle of combining state protection, operators' self-discipline and social supervision.
The protection of consumers' legitimate rights and interests shall facilitate consumers to exercise their rights, and shall be commensurate with the level of economic and social development.
Article 4 The state organs of this Municipality shall, according to their respective responsibilities, take measures to protect consumers' legitimate rights and interests from being infringed in accordance with the law.
The administrative departments for industry and commerce at all levelsand other relevant administrative departments shall strengthen the supervision over business operators in accordance with the law, and severely investigate and punishinfringements upon consumers' legitimate rights and interests, and actively support the work ofconsumer protection councils (hereinafter referred to as “consumer councils”).
Article 5 Consumer councils and other consumer organizations are the social organizations formed in accordance with the law to exercise social supervision over commodities and services and protect consumers' legitimate rights and interests.
Consumer councils shall perform their duties in accordance with the law, and actively play their role in protecting consumers' legitimate rights and interests.
Other consumer organizations may exercise social supervision in various forms for the purpose of protecting consumers' legitimate rights and interests.
Article 6The relevant industry associationsshall urge the business operators in their respective industries to operate in accordance with the law and strengthen self-discipline. The protection of consumers' legitimate rights and interests shall be reflected when they formulate the industry rules.
The mass media shall conduct effective publicity regarding the protection of consumers' legitimate rights and interests, and expose and criticizeinfringements upon consumers' legitimate rights and interests.
All entities and individuals shall be entitled to exercise social supervision overinfringements upon consumers' legitimate rights and interests.
Chapter II Consumers' Rights
Article 7In purchasing and using commodities or receiving services, consumers shall be entitled to be free from damage to their personal and property safety.
Consumers shall be entitled to require business operators toprovide thecommodities and services that meet the compulsory national standards, industry standards and local standards for protecting personal and property safety. Where there is no compulsory national standard, industry standard or local standard, the saidcommodities and services shall meet thesafety and hygiene requirementsgenerallyrecognized by the public.
Consumers shall be entitled to require business operators toprovide safe consumption premises and environment.
Article 8In purchasing and using commodities or receiving services, consumers shall be entitled to enquire and get informed of the true informationon such commodities or services and transaction conditions.
Consumers shall be entitled to, in accordance with the legal provisions, industry rules and industry practices, require commodity dealers to provide the prices, places of origin, manufacturers, uses, performances, standards, grades, main ingredients, net contents, dates of production, service lives, certificates of inspection, instructions for use, operation skills, and after-sale services or ownership certificates of commercial residential buildings, architectural structures, area composition and other information, and require service providers to provide the contents, specifications, costs and standards of services, inspection and test reports of services or maintenance service records and other information.
Article 9 Consumers shall be entitled to choose independently the business operators that provide commodities or services, choose independently the varieties of commodities or forms of services, and decide independently whether to buy any kind of commodities or not, or whether to accept any service or not.
In choosing commodities or services independently, consumers shall have the rights of comparison, identification and selection.
Article 10 Consumers shall be entitled to require the business operators to provide commodities or services under the principle of fairness.
In purchasing commodities or receiving services, consumers shall be entitled to determine transaction prices and other transaction conditions through equal negotiations, and to obtain commodities or services with quality guarantee, reasonable prices and accurate measurement.
Article 11 In purchasing and using commodities or receiving services, consumers shall be entitled to human dignity, respect for their ethnic mores and customs, and legal protection of their personal information.
Article 12 Consumers shall be entitled to obtain the knowledge on the protection of consumers' legitimate rights and interests, such as consumers' rights, business operators' obligations, and ways of consumer dispute resolution, among others.
Article 13 Consumers shall be entitled to establish social organizations in accordance with the law for the protection of their legitimate rights and interests.
Article 14 Where consumers' right of life and health, right of name, right of portrait, right of reputation, right of honor, personal privacy or any other personal right is damaged when they purchase and use commodities or receive services, they shall be entitled to require business operators to make compensation in accordance with the law.
Where consumers' property is damaged when they purchase or use commodities or receive services, they shall be entitled to require business operators to make compensation for the losses caused by them in accordance with the law. In the absence of such provisions in laws or regulations, consumers shall be entitled to require business operators to make compensation in accordance with industry rules.
Article 15 Consumers shall be entitled to offer opinions and suggestions on the qualities, prices, measurement, operation styles, and service attitudes, among others, and to report the infringement acts of business operators to the relevant administrative departments, and to truthfully report the relevant information to the mass media.
Consumers shall be entitled to offer opinions and suggestions to modify the contents which are adverse to the protection of consumers in the industry rules formulated by industry associations or jointly agreed on by business operators.
Consumers shall be entitled tooffer suggestions on state organs' protection of consumers' legitimate rights and interests and tocriticize, impeach or accusestate organs and their functionaries for any violations of law or neglect of duty in their protection of consumers' legitimate rights and interests.
Consumers shall be entitled to offer opinions and suggestions on the work of consumer councils and other consumer organizations.
Chapter III Operator's Obligations
Article 16 Business operators shall fulfill their obligations as agreed upon with consumers.
Where any business operator makes a promise concerning the quality, price or after-sale responsibility of its commodities or services, among others, through commercial advertisement, product descriptions, or physical samples or notices, declarations, on-site posters or any other publicity method, the quality, price or after-sale responsibility of the commodities or services provided by it, among others, shall be identical withwhathasbeenpromised. If consumers buy such commodities or receive such services as guided by the aforesaid promise, consumers may require business operators to take the promise as what has been agreed upon.
In providing commodities or services, business operators may notimpose unfair or unreasonable rules on consumers or other provisions on exempting business operators from their responsibilities, aggravating consumers' responsibilities or excluding consumers' rights bystandard terms of contracts or any other means.
Article 17 Business operators shall guarantee that the commodities, services, facilities and venues provided by them comply with the requirements for the protection of consumers' personal or property safety.
For commodities, services, facilities and venues which may endanger personal or property safety, business operators shall truthfully make explanations and give clear warnings to consumers, and explain and indicate the correct methods for using such commodities, facilities and venues or receiving such services and the methods for preventing the occurrence of damage.
Business operators engaging in risky entertainment industries shall have the technical conditions, serviceequipment and necessary ambulance facilities for protecting consumers' personal safety, and formulate emergency response plans.
Article 18 When providing commodities or services, business operators shall not conduct any of the following acts:
(1) Insulting or defaming consumers.
(2) Searching consumers' bodies or the articles carried by them.
(3) Infringing upon consumers' personal freedom.
(4) Causing permanent destruction or damage to consumers' specific souvenirs of the symbolic significance ofpersonality.
Article 19 In providing commodities or services, business operators shall make truthful introductions and explanations to consumers with clear and understandable languages or texts, and give truthful reply to consumers' inquires.
When providing commodities or services, business operators shall, in accordance with the legal provisions, industry rules and industry practices, take initiative to inform consumers of the following information or produce written documents:
(1) Prices, places of origin, manufacturers, uses, performances, specifications, grades, main ingredients, net contents, dates of production, term of validity, certificates of inspection, instructions for use, operation skills, and after-sale services or ownership certificates of commercial residential buildings, architectural structures, area composition and other information
(2) Contents, specifications, costs, standards and inspection and test reports of the relevant services or maintenance service records and other information.
Article 20 Business operators providing commodities or services on the Internet, on television, over telephone, or by mail order, among others, and business operators providing for-profit education and training services and securities, insurance, banking and other financial services shall provide consumers with information on their business addresses and contact information, the quality, quantity, prices or fees of commodities or services, the duration and manner of performance, safety precautions and risk alerts, after-sale services, and civil liabilities, among others. Where commodities or services are actually provided by other business operators, consumers shall be also provided with the information on such operators' names, business addresses and contact information, among others.
Where any law or administrative regulation provides otherwise for the protection of the rights and interests of consumers of securities, insurance, banking and other financial services, such a law or administrative regulation shall apply.
Article 21 In providing commodity orservice identifiers, business operators shall comply with the provisions of laws and regulations.
Where the commodities provided by business operators fail to reach the prescribed standards or grades, but still have use values, it shall be indicated at the conspicuous positions of such commodities, and be indicated on the purchase vouchers given to consumers. Where imported commodities are sold by agents, the names and addresses of sales agents shall be indicated on such commodities.
The business operators providing services shall establish service identifiers at the conspicuous positions of such business places. Service identifiers shall include the following contents:
(1) Service contents, quality standards and charging standards.
(2) Relevant precautions,restrictive condition and necessary tips in services.
(3) Other service-related contents that shall be identified
Article 22 When providing commodities or services, business operators shall mark HYPERLINK "javascript:void(0);" clearly HYPERLINK "javascript:void(0);" the HYPERLINK "javascript:void(0);" prices HYPERLINK "javascript:void(0);" of such commodities or services as prescribed. Prices shall be clearly marked with complete price tags and pricing items, true and explicit price contents, clear handwriting, matched goods and price tags and conspicuous identifiers. When prices change, the corresponding price tags and pricing items shall be adjusted in a timely manner.
Business operators may not sell commodities or provide services at prices above the marked prices nor collect any fees not specified.
Article 23 When providing commodities or services, business operators may not damage consumers' legitimate rights and interests by passing off fake commodities as genuine ones or inferior products as superior ones, selling adulterated commodities, falsely marking prices or any other meansoffraud.
The “fraud” as mentioned in the preceding paragraph means the act of intentionally providing consumers with false information or deliberately concealing the truthin order to entice consumers tomake any false declaration of will.
Article 24 Business operators shall indicate the true names and signs at the conspicuous positions of their business premises, website homepages or the main pages on business operations. The locations, typefaces and colors of the names of business operators indicated, among others, shall be easy to identify and consult.
Business operators that lease counters or venues from others to engage in business operations shall indicate the true names and signs of the lessors and the lessees.
Business operators that engage in commercial franchise business by joining in cooperation or in other manners shall indicate the true names and signs of the franchisors and the franchisees.
Online transaction platform providers shall examine and register the identity information of the legal persons, other economic organizations, individual industrial and commercial households or natural persons that apply for selling commodities or providing services through the platforms, and indicate the following information at the conspicuous positions of the main pages for legal persons, other economic organizations, individual industrial and commercial households or natural persons to engage in business operations:
(1) Information on the business licenses and relevant permits of legal persons, other economic organizations or individual industrial and commercial households, or hyperlinks to their business licenses.
(2) Logos proving that the identity information of natural persons is verified to be true and legal.
Article 25 Business operators providing commodities or services shall issue invoices and other purchase vouchers or service receipts to consumers in accordance with the relevant provisions of the state or commercial practices; and must issue the same upon request of consumers. Such documents may be issued in electronic forms with the consumers' consent.
Business operators shall issue the lists of charges other than purchase vouchers or service receipts upon request of consumers.
Article 26 Business operators may not force consumers to purchase commodities or receive services, nor engage in tie-in sales of commodities or impose other unreasonable trading conditionagainst consumers' will; and shall obtain the consent of the customers before providing them with optional services.
Article 27 When selling commodities or providing services, business operators shall use measurements of the products or services as the basis of settlement, indicate the statutory measurement units, and be equipped with and use the measurement instruments corresponding to their business or service items and comply with the provisions of the state.
Business operators are not allowed to provide a short quantity of commodities, include package weight into the commodity pricing basis, or refuse consumers' requirements for reviewing the measurement.
Article 28 Business operators shallnotify the consumers, in advance, of the suspension of the supply of commodities and the provision of services for the reason of business operators themselves, and make appropriate arrangements; and shall, where any damage is caused to consumers, make reasonable compensation for consumers.
Business operators engaging in public services shall notify the consumers, in advance, of the suspension of the supply of commodities and the provision of services due to consumers' failure to pay fees, among others, and allow them necessary time to get ready for the suspension.
Article 29 Business operators providing commodities or services on the Internet, on television, over telephone, or by mail order, among others, shall ensure the quality, performance and other information of the commodities or services are kept consistent with advertisement and publicity, and provide commodities or services within the time limits as promised.
Before conductingdoor-to-door marketing of commodities, business operators shall obtain the consent of the consumers to be visited. When conductingdoor-to-door marketing, salesmen shall present the documents showing that business operators have authorized them to conduct door-to-door marketing and the identity documents of salesmen, and notify consumers in writing the functions, features, models, prices, after-sale services and business addresses of the marketed commodities and other contents.
Article 30 Where business operators sell commodities, excluding the following commodities, on the Internet, on television, over telephone, by mail order, or through door-to-door marketing, among others, consumers shall have the right to return the commodities within seven days of receipt of them without cause:
(1) Custom-made commodities by consumers.
(2) Fresh, live, or perishable commodities.
(3) Audio-visual products, computer software, and other digital commodities downloaded online or unpacked by consumers.
(4) Newspapers or periodicals delivered.
Other commodities inappropriate to be returned according to commodity nature in addition to those as listed in the preceding paragraph shall be notified to consumers in a conspicuous manner, and attention programs shall be set, and measures or technical means shall be taken or adopted for consumers' confirmation. The return without cause shall not apply to commodities inappropriate for return as confirmed by consumers before the settlement of purchase.
The commodities returned by consumers shall remain intact. Business operators shall, within seven days of receipt of the returned commodities, refund the payments made by consumers for the commodities, and consumers shall return at the same time the awards and gifts obtained from this consumption or the money equivalents. The freight for the return of commodities shall be assumed by consumers, except as otherwise agreed upon by business operators and consumers.
Commodities unpacked by consumers for the inspection or trial use thereof without being stained or damaged shall fall within the scope of the intact commodities as prescribed in the preceding paragraph.
Article 31 While collecting and using the personal information of consumers, business operators shall observe the principles of legality, properness and necessity, explicitly state the purposes, methods and scope of collection or use of information, and acquire the consent of consumers. The certification materials on business operators' performance of the obligation of explicit statement and acquisition of the consent of consumers shall be kept for a minimum of five years. Business operators may neither require consumers to provide the personal information irrelevant with the consumption, nor collect or use information in violation of laws and regulations or agreements with consumers.
Business operators shall establish and improve the information confidentiality and administration systems, and develop the emergency response plans for information security incidents to ensure information security and prevent the personal information of consumers from being leaked or lost. If leakage or loss of the personal information of consumers occurs or may occur, business operators shall immediately initiate the emergency response plans, take remedial measures, and notify the consumers in a timely manner.
Article 32 Business operators may not send commercial information to consumers without the latter's consent or request, or when a clear refusal from consumers is presented.
Where consumers agree with operators' delivery of commercial information to them, no additional fees may be charged on consumers, except as otherwise agreed on by both parties.
Article 33 Business operators shall bear the obligation of repairing the commodities they sell, excluding low-value consumables, and the time limit for performing such obligation shall be not less than six months. Where there are provisions otherwise provided by the state or this Municipality governing the commercial residential buildings or other commodities, such provisions shall apply.
Where the commodities or services provided by business operators fail to meet the quality requirements, consumers may return them in accordance with the provisions of the state or as agreed upon by the parties, or may require business operators to perform their obligations of refund, replacement, remaking or repair. In the absence of such provisions of the state or agreements by the parties, consumers may return the commodities within seven days of receipt of such commodities; and consumers may, if the statutory conditions for rescission of a contract are met after the seven-day period, return them in a timely manner, or, if not met, require business operators to perform their obligations of replacement, remaking or repair, among others.
For the return, replacement, remaking or repair of commodities under the preceding paragraph, business operators shall reimburse consumers for freight and other necessary expenses.
Business operators shall, within the time limits as prescribed by the state or as promised by the operators, perform without any delay the obligations as prescribed in paragraph 2 of this Article.
Article 34 Where business operators provide commodities or services to consumers by presenting rewards or gifts or other promotion means on the condition that consumers purchase such commodities or receive such services, such business operators shall not be exempt from the return, replacement, remaking or repair of goods and other liabilities in respect of such rewards and gifts or the services rewarded or gifted.
Article 35 Where the business operators discover any defects which may endanger personal or property safety in commodities or services they provided, they shall immediately report to the relevant administrative departments and notify consumers; and take such measures as cessation of sale, issuance of a warning, recall, harmless treatment, destruction, and cessation of production or service. If the measure of recall is taken, business operators shall reimburse consumers for necessary expenses incurred for the recall of commodities.
Where the relevant administrative departments discover and determine that the commodities or services provided by the business operators are defective and may endanger the personal or property safety, they shall immediately order the business operators to take such measures as cessation of sale, issuance of a warning, recall, harmless treatment, destruction, and cessation of production or service, among others.
Where Shanghai Consumer Council discovers that any commodities or services are defective, it may offer corresponding suggestions to the relevant administrative departments.
Article 36 Business operators shall keep various original invoices, documents or other materials able to prove the sources of the purchased goods, and establish ledgers.
Business operators shalllisten to consumers' opinions, and handle consumers' complaints in a timely manner.
Article 37 Business operators that provide commodities or services in the manner of receiving prepayment shall conclude written contracts with consumers upon request of the latter to specify their business addresses and contact information, the quality, quantity and prices or fees of commodities or services, the duration and manner of performance, safety precautions and risk alerts, after-sale services, civil liabilities, dispute resolution methods and other matters.
Business operators shall preserve contracts and the relevant materials on the performance thereof to facilitate the consultation and photocopying by consumers; the relevant materials shall be preserved for a minimum of two years after the completion of contract performance.
Where there are provisions otherwise provided in the relevant laws or regulations on the administration of prepayment, business operators shall also comply with the relevant provisions.
Where the issuance of prepaid cards are involved when commodities or services are provided in the manner of prepayment, the relevant provisions of the state and this Municipality shall be abided by. Where single-purpose commercial prepaid cards are issued, regulation may be conducted through funds management, information disclosure or other means. The specific administration measures shall be developed separately by the municipal people's government.
Article 38 Business administrators and lessors of counters and venues in commodity transaction markets shall verify the business licenses, permits and other materials of business operators and lessees in the markets, preserve the photocopies thereof, and provide the aforesaid true information for consumers that inquire about the information on business operators and lessees in the markets. Business administrators and lessors of counters and venues in commodity transaction markets shall set up bulletin boards at the conspicuous positions in the transaction places, and publicize the names, business (lease) durations and business projects of business operators and lessees in the markets and other matters concerning the protection of consumers' legitimate rights and interests.
Administrative departments for industry and commerceshall take charge of supervising the setup of bulletin boards and the recording of the relevant contents.
Article 39 Franchisers of commercial franchise business shall specify in the contracts concluded with the franchisees the quality requirements and quality assurance measures of commodities or services, the assumption of the liabilities for protection of consumers' rights and interests and for compensation and other contents, and strengthen the guidance to and supervision over the business operations of franchisees.
Franchisees shall expressly disclose to the consumers the assumption of the liabilities for protection of consumers' rights and interests and for compensation and other contents as specified in commercial franchise contracts.
Chapter IV State Protection
Article 40 The state organs of this Municipality shall, when developing the relevant regulations, rules and local standards on the protection of consumers' legitimate rights and interests, listen to the opinions of consumers, consumer councils and other organizations.
Article 41 The people's governments of this Municipality and of the districts and counties thereof shall strengthen the leadership of the protection of consumers' legitimate rights and interests.
Departments of industry and commerce, quality supervision, food and drug administration, commerce, transport, tourism, construction, housing management, education, human resources and social security, culture, radio, film and television, sports, commodity prices, communications, postal service and finance, among others, shall listen to consumers' opinions, accept consumers' complaints within their respective scopes of duties, strengthen market regulation, and protect consumers' legitimate rights and interests. Administrative departments for industry and commerce may, with respect to the major issue of protection of consumers' rights, file requests with the people's government at the same level for organizing, coordinating with and urging the relevant administrative departments in effectively protecting consumers' legitimate rights and interests.
Administrative departments for industry and commerce shall, jointly with the relevant administrative departments, establish the contact points (stations) for protection of consumers' rights in shopping malls, markets, tourist attractions, communities, schools, and other living consumption-centralized areas, conduct publicity and guidance in consumption laws and regulations and consumption knowledge, accept consumers' consultation and complaints, and promote the integrity and self-discipline of business operators. The people's governments of districts and counties shall support the routine work of the contact points (stations) for the protection of consumers' rights.
Article 42 The relevant administrative departments shall, within the scope of their respective duties, conduct regular or irregular random inspections on the commodities and services provided by business operators, and disclose the results of the random inspections to the public in a timely manner through government information websites of these departments or other means.
The commodities and services which involve personal health and property safety, may affect national economy and the people's livelihood, or are intensively complained about by consumers shall be put on the top agendas of the annual random inspection plans by the relevant administrative departments, or be subject to random inspections organized as required in a timely manner.
The mass media of communication shall use the results of random inspections in a comprehensive and objective manner, and indicate the sources thereof.
Article 43 Administrative departments for industry and commerce and quality and technical supervision departments of this Municipality and of the districts and counties thereof may exercise the following functions:
(1) Conducting onsite inspections on the places where the parties engage in illegal production or sales activities suspected of infringing upon consumers' legitimate rights and interests.
(2) Investigating and inquiring of the legal representatives of the parties, primary persons in charge and other relevant persons about the matters concerning the illegal production and marketing activities suspected of infringing upon consumers' legitimate rights and interests.
(3) Reviewing and duplicating the relevant contracts, invoices, account books, and other relevant materials of the parties.
(4) Sealing up or seizing the seriouslydefective commodities which may damage consumers' personal and property safety as determined based on evidence.
Other administrative departments shall, according to the functions as prescribed by law, investigate and punish the illegal acts suspected of infringing upon consumers' legitimate rights and interests.
Article 44 The people's courts at all levels within this Municipality shall, in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, take measures to try cases of consumption disputes in a timely manner, and safeguard consumers' legitimate rights and interests in accordance with the law.
Chapter V Consumer Organizations
Article 45 This Municipality and the districts and counties thereof shall form consumer councils in accordance with the law, and the members of consumer councils shall be consumer representatives and representatives from all walks of life. Shanghai Consumer Council may establish specialized working bodies as required by work.
Other consumer organizations shall be formed in accordance with the provisions of the relevant laws and regulations.
Article 46 Consumer councils shall perform the following public welfare responsibilities:
(1) Publicizing the laws and regulations on the protection of consumers' legitimate rights and interests, conducting consumption knowledge education, providing consumers with consumption information and consultation services, and guiding consumption in a civilized, healthy, resource-conservative, and environmentally friendly manner.
(2) Participating in the development of local laws and regulations, rules of local governments, and local standards on consumers' rights and interests.
(3) Investigating, comparing and analyzing the quality, prices, and after-sale services of commodities and services, and consumers' opinions, and participating in the supervision over and inspection on commodities and services conducted by the relevant administrative departments.
(4) Reporting to or inquiring in the people's governments at all levels, the relevant administrative departments, business operators and industry associations the issues concerning consumers' legitimate rights and interests, and offer suggestions.
(5) Accepting consumers' complaints, and investigating or mediating complaints, or putting forward opinions and transferring such complaints to the relevant departments and entities for handling.
(6) Supporting the victims in filing lawsuits or applying for arbitrations against infringers of consumers' legitimate rights and interests.
(7) Exposing, criticizing and advising against the acts infringing upon consumers' legitimate rights and interests through mass media.
(8) Organizing the coordination meetings participated by various parties, including consumers, business operators, industry associations, professional institutions and the relevant departments, among others, to study and resolve the emergencies involving consumers' legitimate rights and interests.
(9) Participating in the price hearings on public utilities, public welfare services and commodities under natural monopoly which concern the vital interests of consumers, and offering independent opinions.
(10) Promoting the resolution of disputes over cross-border consumption, and promoting information intercommunication and sharing.
The people's governments at all levels shall give guidance, support and assistance to the legal performance of duties by consumer councils, and give necessary funding support thereto.
Article 47 Shanghai Consumer Councilshall, according to results of the handling of consumption complaints in this Municipality and upon request of consumers, issue on an irregular basisconsumption caution information and consumption guidance information, help consumers improveself-protection capacities, and guide consumers in scientific and reasonable consumption.
Article 48 Shanghai Consumer Councilshall, according to information on consumers' complaints and as required by the protection of consumers' legitimate rights and interest, conduct investigations on several industries each year, and report investigation results to the Municipal People's Government and its working departments; and the relevant administrative departments, industry associations and business operators shall support and cooperate with its work.
Article 49 Shanghai Consumer Council may conduct comparative tests of commodities and services, and shall publish the results thereof.
Article 50 Shanghai Consumer Council may disclose to the public the verified information on consumers' complaints.
Article 51 For infringements upon the legitimate rights and interests of many consumers, Shanghai Consumer Council may file lawsuits in the people's courts in accordance with the law.
Where it is truly difficult for Shanghai Consumer Council to collect evidences for the lawsuits as prescribed in the preceding paragraph, it may request the relevant administrative departments to give assistance thereto.
Article 52 Consumer councils and other consumer organizations shall neither engage in commodity operation or for-profit services nor recommend commodities or services to consumers by charging fees or any other for-profit means.
Shanghai Consumer Councilshall issue consumption information, put forward investigation reports, and disclose the information on complaints filed by consumers and publish typical cases in a legal, objective and fair manner.
Article 53 The relevant administrative departments and industry associations shall notify in a timely manner the information on consumers' legitimate rights and interests to Shanghai Consumer Council. Inquires about the matters on the protection of consumers' legitimate rights and interests by consumer councils shall be replied in a timely manner.
Chapter V. Methods for Resolution of Disputes
Article 54 Business operators shall be encouraged to establish convenient and efficient consumption complaint handling mechanisms so as to resolve consumer disputes by reconciliation with consumers through consultations. The contents of the settlement agreements may neither violate laws and regulations nor impair public interests or the legitimate rights and interests of other people.
Article 55 Consumer councils shall accept consumers' complaints in a timely manner. Where any cases are not within the scope of acceptance, the reasons therefor shall be given to the consumers.
Consumer councils shall  HYPERLINK "javascript:void(0);" provide HYPERLINK "javascript:void(0);" convenience HYPERLINK "javascript:void(0);" for consumers' complaints.
Article 56 Consumer councils shall, after accepting complaints, conduct the mediation in a timely manner, and business operators shall give support thereto. The mediation shall be completed within 60 days, which, however, may be extended by 30 days if both parties agree with the continued mediation after the time limit expires.
Where an agreement is reached through mediation by a consumer council, the consumer council may, according to the requirements of both parties to a consumption dispute, prepare a mediation agreement. If mediation fails, the consumer council shall notify the parties of other resolution methods.
Where consumer councils discover, in the process of handling consumers' complaints, that such consumption disputes have been accepted or mediated by any other consumer organizations, the handling thereof may be terminated.
Where consumer councils deem that business operators have any illegal business operations which have damaged consumers' legitimate rights and interests, they shall notify the relevant administrative departments in writing. The relevant administrative departments shall handle them in a timely manner, and notify in writing the consumer councils of the handling results.
Article 57 Consumers may file complaints concerning consumption disputes with the relevant administrative departments.
The relevant administrative departments shall, within seven working days of receipt of consumers' complaints, handle the complaints and inform the consumers. Where both parties to a consumption dispute agree with mediation, the relevant administrative department shall organize mediation, and terminate the mediation within 60 days of acceptance of the consumer's complaint. Where a mediation agreement is reached, the relevant administrative department shall prepare a mediation paper; otherwise, the mediation shall be terminated.
Where the relevant administrative departments discover any illegal acts of business operators, they shall make a decision of handling in accordance with the law; where the illegal acts of business operators cause losses to consumers, the relevant administrative departments shall urge business operators to make compensation for the losses of consumers or assume other civil liabilities in accordance with the law.
Article 58 To resolve consumption disputes, consumers may apply for arbitrations according to arbitration agreements, or file lawsuits in accordance with the law. Arbitration commissions or the people's courts shall, after accepting such cases, handle consumer disputes by taking convenient means in accordance with the law.
Article 59 Consumers that file complaints with consumer councils or the relevant administrative departments shall provide their true names and contact information, complainants' names and addresses and other information, and make clear complaint requests and give the causes and relevant factual bases therefor.
Where consumer councils or the relevant administrative departments conduct mediation, consumers shall provide identity certificates and commodities in kind, purchase vouchers, service receipts and other evidences that can prove the existence of consumption relationship.
Article 60 Where any commodities or services need to be tested or appraised due to disputes over their quality, consumers and business operators may agree on the testing or appraisal institutions or entities. Where the testing or appraisal institutions or entities are not agreed on, the consumer councils or administrative departments that accept such consumers' complaints may authorize or designate qualified inspection institutions or appraisal agencies or entities to conduct the testing or appraisal thereof.
The expenses for testing or appraisal shall be prepaid by business operators, for which consumers shall provide equivalent guarantees, and such expenses shall be finally borne by the responsible parties. Where responsibilities are unclear, such expenses shall be borne by both parties, except as otherwise provided by laws or administrative regulations.
Where testing or appraisal is required when consumer councils or the relevant administrative departments are handling consumers' complaints, the relevant inspection institutions or appraisal agencies or entities shall accept such requests, and truthfully issue testing or appraisal reports. If testing or appraisal cannot be conducted, the relevant inspection institutions or appraisal agencies or entities shall give the reasons therefor.
Chapter VII Legal Liability
Article 61 Where any business operators, in breach of theobligations as prescribed in Chapter III of these Regulations, cause any damage to consumers' legitimate rights and interests, they shall, 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 regulations and the provisions of these Regulations, bear the corresponding civil liabilities. Where crimes are constituted, they shall be subject to criminal liabilities in accordance with the law.
Article 62 Business operators that fraudulently provide commodities or services shall, as required by consumers, increase the compensation for consumers' losses, and the increase in compensation shall triple the payment made by a consumer for the commodity purchased or the service received or be 500 yuan if the increase is less than 500 yuan, except as otherwise provided by the law.
Where business operators knowingly provide consumers with defective commodities or services, causing death or any serious harm to the heath of consumers or other victims, the victims shall have the right to require business operators to compensate them for losses in accordance with Article 49 and Article 51 of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Consumers' Rights and Interests and other legal provisions, and have the right to claim punitive damages of not more than two times the amount of losses incurred.
Article 63 Under any of the following circumstances, business operators shall be governed by other applicable laws and regulations which provide for the organs implementing administrative penalty and the types and ranges of penalty; or in the absence of such provisions in laws or regulations, the administrative departments for industry and commerce shall order them to make corrections, and may, according to the circumstances, warn the business operators, and/or impose a fine of less than 500,000 yuan; and if the circumstances are serious, order them to suspend business for rectification:
(1) Failing to establish service identifiers as prescribed in violation of the provisions of paragraph 3 of Article 21 of these Regulations.
(2) Failing to indicate the true names and signs as prescribed in violation of the provisions of Article 24 of these Regulations.
(3) Failing to issue purchase vouchers or service receipts as prescribed in violation of the provisions of paragraph 1 of Article 25 of these Regulations.
(4) Failing to obtain consumers' consent or providing required documents as prescribed when making door-to-door marketing in violation of the provisions of paragraph 2 of Article 29 of these Regulations.
(5) Imposing additional fees on consumers for sending commercial information without consumers' consent in violation of the provisions of paragraph 2 of Article 32 of these Regulations.
Article 64 Under any of the following circumstances, business operators shall be governed by other applicable laws and regulations which provide for the organs implementing administrative penalty and the types and ranges of penalty; or in the absence of such provisions in laws or regulations, the administrative departments for industry and commerce shall order them to make corrections, and may, according to the circumstances, warn the business operators, confiscate their illegal income, and/or a fine more than three times but less than five times the illegal income, or, if there is no illegal income or illegal income cannot be calculated, impose a fine of less than 100,000 yuan; and if the circumstances are serious, order them to suspend business for rectification:
(1) Providing commodities or services by fraudulent means in violation of the provisions of Article 23 of these Regulations, infringing upon consumers' legitimate rights and interests.
(2) Forcing consumers to purchase goods or accept services in violation of the provisions of Article 26 of these Regulations.
(3) Providing a short quantity of commodities to consumers or including package weight into the commodity pricing basis in violation of the provisions of paragraph 2 of Article 27 of these Regulations.
(4) Failing to provide the documents that prove the sources of the purchased goods in violation of the provisions of paragraph 1 of Article 36 of these Regulations.
Article 65 Business operators that violate the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 31 of these Regulations shall, in addition to bearing the corresponding civil liabilities in accordance with the law, be sanctioned by administrative departments for industry and commerce or the relevant administrative departments in accordance with the relevant laws and regulations. Where crimes are constituted, they shall be subject to criminal liabilities in accordance with the law.
Article 66 Where any business administrators and lessors of counters or venues in commodity transaction markets, in violation of the provisions of paragraph 1 of Article 38 of these Regulations, fail to verify the business licenses, permits and other materials of business operators and lessees in the markets, preserve the photocopies thereof, provide true information for consumers that inquire about the information on business operators and lessees in the markets, or to publicize in accordance with the law the names, business (lease) durations and business projects of business operators and lessees in the markets and other matters concerning the protection of consumers' legitimate rights and interests, the administrative departments for industry and commerce shall order them to make corrections, and may, in light of the circumstances, warn the violators, confiscate their illegal income, and/or impose a fine of more than one time but less than five times the illegal income, or, if there is no illegal income or illegal income cannot be calculated, impose a fine of less than 100,000 yuan.
Article 67 Where any business operators fall under any of the circumstances as prescribed in Article 63, Article 64, Article 65 or Article 66, the organs imposing penalty shall, in addition to imposing the penalty thereon in accordance with the provisions of laws and regulations, record the information on the administrative penalty imposed on illegal business operators into their credit files, announce such information to the public through the enterprise credit information announcement system, and incorporate such information into the public credit information service platform of this Municipality.
Where any business operators, in violation of the provisions of paragraph 1 of Article 28 of these Regulations, fail to notify the consumers in advance of and make appropriate arrangements for their suspension of the supply of commodities or the provision of services without authorization, which causes losses to consumers, the relevant administrative departments shall record the information on the administrative penalty imposed on illegal business operators into their credit files, announce such information to the public through the enterprise credit information announcement system, and incorporate such information into the public credit information service platform of this Municipality. If commercial franchise business is involved, such information shall also be recorded into the credit files of the franchisers and franchisees.
Article 68 Where any business operator violates these Regulations and shall be subject to civil liabilities of compensation and payment of fines, if his property is not sufficient to cover all the payment concurrently, it shall bear civil liabilities of compensation first.
Article 69 Consumers whose legitimate rights and interests are infringed upon in purchasing or using commodities may claim compensation from the sellers. After paying compensation, the sellers shall have the right to be reimbursed by the manufacturers or other sellers supplying the commodities to them if such manufacturers or sellers are held liable.
Consumers or other victims suffering from personal injuries or property damage resulting from defects of commodities may claim compensation from the sellers or manufacturers. If the manufacturers are held liable, the sellers shall, after paying compensation, have the right to be reimbursed by the manufacturers. If the sellers are held liable, the manufacturers shall, after paying compensation, have the right to be reimbursed by the sellers.
Consumers whose legitimate rights and interests are damaged in receiving services may claim compensation from the service providers. Where service providers are not held liable, service providers shall be reimbursed by liable parties.
Article 70 Where a party raise any objection to a specific administrative act taken by any administrative department for industry and commerce or any other administrative department, the party may apply for administrative reconsideration or file an administrative lawsuit in accordance with the provisions of the Administrative Reconsideration Law of the People's Republic of China or the Administrative Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China.
If a party has not applied for reconsideration, nor filed a lawsuit in a people's court within the time limit, nor complied with the decision on penalty concerning a specific administrative act, the administrative department for industry and commerce or any other relevant administrative department that has conducted the specific administrative act may apply to a people's court for enforcement.
Article 71 Where directly responsible persons in charge and other directly responsible persons of the administrative departments for industry and commerce or other relevant administrative departments and staff members of the consumer councils neglect duties, abuse powers, or practice favoritism, the entities where they work or the superior competent administrative departments shall impose administrative sanctions on them. Where crimes are constituted, they shall be subject to criminal liabilities in accordance with the law.
Chapter VIII Supplementary Provisions
Article 72 The purchase and use of the means ofproduction by peasants for direct use of agricultural and subsidiaryproduction shall be governed by these Regulations.
Article 73 These Regulations shall come into force on January 1, 2003. The Regulations of Shanghai Municipality on the Protection of Consumers' Rights and Interests as adopted at the 5th Session of the Standing Committee of the Ninth Shanghai Municipal People's Congress on December 22, 1988, shall be repealed concurrently.