New e-commerce guidelines to protect online shoppers

China's State Administration for Industry and Commerce has issued new guidelines to protect the rights of consumers who purchase goods online, Bjnews.com reported on March 12th, 2015. [Special coverage]

The guidelines stipulate that online consumers can request refunds from e-commerce platforms if their orders were delayed or refused by sellers.

Before these guidelines were released, it is quite often that sellers have delayed or refused to refund money for substandard goods, instead asking consumers to contact the manufacturers directly. The vast geographical distance between buyers and sellers in the online marketplace has also made it difficult for consumers to claim for damages for poor quality goods.

The guidelines, stipulate that both online sellers and e-commerce service providers have the first responsibility to refund money if orders are delayed beyond a reasonable timeframe or if sellers refuse to deliver goods after accepting payments.

E-commerce platforms also have the right remove sellers who violate consumers' rights from their trading services.

These guidelines also identify three prerequisites to be satisfied before refunds are made.

First, buyers need to provide their receipts or service certificates when requesting refunds. Secondly, buyers need to provide evidence of rights infringement except certain conditions stipulated by the Customer Right Protection Law. Finally, the refunds can only be given if sellers or service providers intentionally delayed or unreasonably refused to pay refunds earlier. If the seller has gone bankrupt then the e-commerce service provider needs to endure that consumers receive the proper refund.