In order to thoroughly implement the requirements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on improving price supervision rules, further improve the rule of law and standardization of price supervision, standardize the behavior of operators in clearly marking prices, prevent and stop price fraud, maintain market price order, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers and operators and the social and public interests, recently, The State Administration of market supervision has promulgated the provisions on clearly marked prices and prohibition of price fraud (hereinafter referred to as the provisions).
On the basis of comprehensively sorting out and refining the main contents of the original provisions on the practical and explicit pricing of goods and services, the provisions on the prohibition of price fraud and its supporting documents, the provisions, in view of the new problems in law enforcement practice, the new characteristics of the pricing behavior of new economic and new business operators, and the new forms of price violations, in accordance with the new requirements of the administrative punishment law of the people's Republic of China newly revised in 2021, Further improved the rules of the price supervision system. The regulations specify the clearly marked price rules, supplement and improve the identification standards and corresponding legal responsibilities for some price violations, and provide legal support for better safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of consumers and operators, standardizing the market price order, and building an efficient, standardized, fair competition and fully decentralized national unified market.
In terms of clearly marked prices, the provisions clearly define the main price elements that should be marked and the pricing principles that should be followed by operators when selling goods or providing services, and make flexible provisions on the form of clearly marked prices for selling goods or providing services through the Internet. On the premise of fully protecting the legitimate rights and interests of consumers and other business operators, the local market supervision departments at or above the level of cities divided into districts are authorized to stipulate the price information that should be marked for specific commodities or services, so as to better adapt to economic and social development.
In the identification of price fraud, it clarifies the specific requirements of operators in price comparison, discount, price reduction and other activities, lists the typical price fraud behaviors to be prohibited, emphasizes that the subjective malice of the parties should be taken as an important consideration in the identification of price fraud, and puts forward clear requirements for the pricing behavior of online transaction operators. At the same time, we should make a reasonable distinction between price fraud and non price fraud, and make it clear that there is sufficient evidence to prove that there is no subjective intention, and the actual transaction price can enable consumers or other operators trading with them to obtain greater price concessions, etc. do not belong to price fraud.
In terms of legal liability, the provisions, in accordance with the provisions of the price law of the people's Republic of China and the administrative punishment law of the people's Republic of China, adhere to the principle of proportionate punishment. While clarifying the applicable penalties for acts violating the provisions of clearly marked prices and other price violations, the provisions provide for lighter, mitigated or no penalties according to law.
