□ Our reporter Liu Xin
In recent years, relying on Internet technology, cooperating with online car-hailing platform companies, facing passengers and matching supply and demand information, the platform (commonly known as online car-hailing aggregation platform) that jointly provides online car-hailing services has developed rapidly, providing new choices for travel services. However, there are also problems such as inadequate implementation of corporate responsibilities of online car-hailing aggregation platforms and online car-hailing platform companies, and inadequate protection of the legitimate rights and interests of employees and passengers.
Recently, the General Office of the Ministry of Transport, the General Office of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the General Office of the Ministry of Public Security, the General Office of the State Administration of Market Supervision, and the Secretariat Bureau of the State Internet Information Office jointly issued the Notice on Doing a Good Job in the Standardized Management of the Network Car Aggregation Platform (hereinafter referred to as the Notice), in order to compact corporate responsibilities and protect the legitimate rights and interests of passengers and drivers; Standardize business practices and maintain fair competition market order; Strengthen coordination and cooperation, improve supervision ability and level, and make arrangements to promote the standardized, healthy and sustainable development of the network car industry.
It is imperative to standardize management
Nowadays, the network car aggregation platform is favored by more and more people. According to the statistics of the network car supervision information interaction system, in March this year, the network car supervision information interaction system received a total of 716 million orders, up 9.7% from the previous month. Among them, the aggregation platform completed 197 million orders, up 16.9% from the previous month.
"The network car aggregation platform is connected to dozens of network car platforms, and a large number of drivers are online, and the order is efficient. At the same time, consumers can compare prices online and select cheap orders, which is fast and economical." According to Liu Ruzhong, a member of the expert group of the Legal Work Committee of China Communications and Transportation Association and a senior partner of Taihetai (Beijing) Law Firm, the network car aggregation platform has many advantages.
Chen Yinjiang, Deputy Secretary-General of china law society Consumer Rights Protection Law Research Association, told the reporter that on the one hand, online car aggregation platform can better protect consumers’ right to know and choose, on the other hand, it can also promote the fair competition of online car platform companies by formulating fair and reasonable price rules.
However, it should be noted that the risks of the network car aggregation platform cannot be ignored. Chen Yinjiang said that because aggregation platforms usually charge lower information service fees, there may be problems such as lax qualification review, inadequate daily management, and unsmooth after-sales service, and online car service is directly related to the life, health and safety of consumers. Once an infringement incident occurs, it may have serious consequences and must be highly valued.
"Moreover, in some places, the responsibility boundary between the aggregation platform and the network car platform has not been clarified, and there is an unequal phenomenon of responsibilities and obligations. It is necessary to standardize the management of the network car aggregation platform." Liu Yuzhong said.
Liu Junhai, a professor at the Law School of Renmin University of China, said that the network car aggregation platform is an important channel to solve the "travel difficulties" of the majority of passengers. As a new thing, it is not easy to develop from scratch and from small to large, but there are indeed irregularities in management in practice. The promulgation of the "Notice" will help to better standardize the business behavior of platforms and drivers, better protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, and purify the ecological environment of the online car market.
According to the Notice, local transportation, telecommunications, public security, market supervision, network information and other departments should give full play to the role of multi-sectoral collaborative supervision mechanism of new transportation formats at the local level, and study and explore regulations and policies to regulate the management of network car aggregation platforms in light of local conditions. It is necessary to strengthen the supervision and guidance on the operation behavior of the network car aggregation platform, and urge the network car aggregation platform to implement the verification responsibility for the relevant network car platform companies, and not to access the network car platform companies that have not obtained the network car business license locally. Drivers and vehicles providing services should apply for the corresponding network car license. Guide the network car aggregation platform and the cooperative network car platform company to operate in compliance with laws and regulations in accordance with the Interim Measures for the Administration of Online Booking Taxi Management Services and other relevant requirements.
Properly handle consultation complaints
"It is easy to take a taxi, but it is difficult to defend rights." Some consumers spit, and after a traffic accident on the network car, the aggregation platform and the network car platform buck-passing each other, which increased the difficulty of consumer rights protection.
It is worth noting that this Notice makes it clear that if passengers are damaged due to safety accidents and require the network car aggregation platform to bear the first compensation liability, relevant local departments should urge the network car aggregation platform to fulfill the relevant provisions of the Law of People’s Republic of China (PRC) on the Protection of Consumers’ Rights and Interests and bear relevant responsibilities.
"If consumers purchase the online car service through the online car aggregation platform and their legitimate rights and interests are damaged, they can directly ask the online car service provider for compensation, or they can ask the online car aggregation platform or the cooperative network car platform for assistance in safeguarding rights." Chen Yinjiang said that if the network car aggregation platform or the cooperative network car platform cannot provide the real name, address and effective contact information of the network car service provider, consumers can claim compensation from the network car aggregation platform or the cooperative network car platform. If the network car aggregation platform or the cooperative network car platform makes a promise that is more beneficial to consumers, it should fulfill the promise, and after compensation, it can claim compensation from the relevant platform or network car service provider according to law.
In addition, the "Notice" requires that the network car aggregation platform and the cooperative network car platform companies should establish and improve the first-inquiry responsibility system for consulting services and complaint handling according to law in combination with their respective service contents, and properly handle the consultation complaints of passengers and drivers in a timely manner.
Chen Yinjiang believes that the implementation of the first inquiry responsibility system aims to urge operators to earnestly fulfill the responsibility of the first person responsible for consumer rights protection, and accept and handle consumer complaints in a timely manner according to the principle of "whoever sells goods is responsible and whoever provides services is responsible".
Chen Yinjiang further explained that the establishment of the first inquiry and responsibility system for complaint handling between the network car aggregation platform and the cooperative network car platform company means that no matter whether it is the network car aggregation platform or the cooperative network car platform company, as long as it receives complaints from passengers or drivers, it is not allowed to shirk, let alone deliberately delay or unreasonably refuse, and should properly handle the consultation complaints of passengers and drivers in a timely manner.
"These regulations can effectively avoid problems such as buck passing and procrastination between the network car aggregation platform and the network car platform company, which will significantly enhance the experience of the company." Liu Yuzhong said.
Improve the level of regulatory capacity
Recently, the issue of "the driver of the network car has failed to increase the price and refused to load" has caused heated discussion. On May 1, the Transportation Bureau of Jinghong City, Yunnan Province issued a report on the investigation and handling, and imposed a fine of 30,000 yuan on the driver Zhao Moumou, a fine of 30,000 yuan on Hua Moumou, a company on the polymerization platform, and the vehicle and the driver were banned indefinitely.
In fact, in recent years, relevant departments around the country have been working hard to standardize the business behavior of platforms and drivers and maintain fair competition market order. The "Notice" also stressed that relevant local departments should maintain a high-pressure situation of cracking down on illegal operations in accordance with their statutory duties, and publicly expose the network car aggregation platform and cooperative network car platform companies that violate laws and regulations.
In addition, the "Notice" requires that local transportation, market supervision and other departments should urge the network car aggregation platform and the cooperative network car platform company to implement the requirements of clear price tag, and must not disrupt the market order with unfair price behavior; Supervise the network car aggregation platform not to interfere with the price behavior of the network car platform company, not to directly participate in vehicle dispatching and driver management, and to maintain fair competition market order.
Liu Junhai believes that these contents of the Notice are helpful to reverse the phenomenon that "bad money drives out good money", which is of great significance and is also conducive to protecting consumers’ right to fair trade and security.
"The market will fail, and regulators should not fail." Liu Junhai said that when the market is out of order and enterprises can’t exercise self-discipline, regulators should make good use of the rights given by the law, such as market access, administrative guidance, administrative supervision and administrative punishment, so as to stir up chaos, punish evil and promote good, enthusiastically protect consumers’ legitimate rights and interests, take a clear-cut stand to crack down on and punish illegal business practices, and do a good job of supervision in all aspects before and after the event.
Regarding how to further standardize the management of the network car aggregation platform, Liu Ruzhong suggested further studying and exploring the laws, regulations, policies and measures to standardize the management of the network car aggregation platform, increasing the definition of related modes, responsibilities and obligations, service management, illegal punishment and other contents of the aggregation platform, and truly bringing the aggregation platform into the adjustment scope of transportation management to ensure its standardized and healthy development.
Chen Yinjiang suggested that in order to innovate the supervision mode, relevant departments should establish and improve the joint supervision mechanism, and comprehensively use digital supervision, credit supervision, administrative law enforcement, social supervision and other means to improve the supervision ability and level. Supervise the network car aggregation platform and the cooperative network car platform company to transmit real-time information and data about network car operation to the network car supervision information interaction system in accordance with relevant regulations, and ensure that the relevant regulatory authorities share the data in real time.
It is also necessary to unblock the channels for complaints and rights protection. On the one hand, it is convenient for consumers to protect their rights according to law when they encounter problems and resolve consumer disputes in a timely manner; On the other hand, it is to encourage consumers to complain and report the illegal problems found in the network car, provide effective law enforcement clues for the regulatory authorities, and give full play to the power of social co-governance.
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