Operators' Obligations to Protect Consumer Rights: Analysis of Specific Duties

Compiled on: May 31, 2026 ---

1. Protecting the Right to Know

Operators shall:

• Provide consumers with truthful and comprehensive information about the quality, performance, use, and shelf life of goods/services
• Not make false or misleading advertising
• Provide truthful and clear answers to consumers' inquiries about the quality and usage of goods/services
• Clearly mark prices, indicating the product name, origin, specifications, grade, pricing unit, price, etc.
• Food operators shall indicate the name, production date, shelf life, ingredients, and producer of the food ## 2. Protecting the Right to Safety Operators shall:
• Ensure that the goods/services they provide meet the requirements for protecting personal and property safety
• Provide truthful explanations and clear warnings to consumers regarding goods/services that may endanger personal or property safety
• If a serious defect is found in goods/services, immediately report to the relevant administrative department, inform consumers, and take measures such as stopping sales, issuing warnings, recalling, harmless disposal, destruction, or stopping production or service
• Bear the necessary expenses incurred by consumers due to the recall of goods ## 3. Protecting the Right to Fair Trade Operators shall not:
• Set unfair or unreasonable transaction conditions
• Force transactions (coercing consumers to purchase goods or accept services)
• Use standard clauses (such as store notices, announcements, declarations, etc.) to exclude or limit consumer rights, reduce or exempt operator responsibilities, increase consumer burdens, or otherwise treat consumers unfairly
• If standard clauses contain the above content, such content is invalid ## 4. Protecting the Right to Free Choice Operators shall not:
• Force tie-in sales of goods or services
• Force or indirectly force consumers to make purchases
• Restrict consumers from choosing goods/services from other operators ## 5. Obligation to Protect Personal Information Operators shall:
• Collect and use consumer personal information in accordance with the principles of legality, legitimacy, and necessity
• Clearly state the purpose, method, and scope of collecting and using information
• Obtain consumer consent
• Not violate laws, regulations, or mutual agreements
• Not disclose, sell, or illegally provide to others
• Adopt technical measures to ensure information security ## 6. After-Sales Obligations Operators shall:
• Undertake the responsibility of repair, replacement, and refund (the "Three Guarantees") according to national regulations or agreements with consumers
• Not deliberately delay or unreasonably refuse legitimate requests from consumers
• If the goods/services provided do not meet quality requirements, consumers may request returns, exchanges, or repairs --- ## 7. High-Frequency Confusion Analysis ### Distinction 1: "No False Advertising" vs "No Misleading Advertising" | | False Advertising | Misleading Advertising | |---|---------|--------------| | Difference | Content is completely false | Content may be true, but the presentation misleads | | Example | "This product has a national patent" (it doesn't) | "Everything in the store is 90% off" (only one item is) | | Common Point | Both infringe on consumers' right to know and are illegal acts | ### Distinction 2: Standard Clauses vs Ordinary Contract Clauses | | Standard Clauses | Ordinary Clauses | |---|---------|---------| | Definition | Clauses pre-drafted by the operator without negotiation | Clauses reached through mutual negotiation | | Validity Rule | Clauses that exclude/limit consumer rights are invalid | Generally valid | | Typical Example | "No returns or exchanges after sale" "The store reserves the right of final interpretation" | Verbal agreement on delivery time | ⚠️ High-frequency test point: "The store reserves the right of final interpretation" → Standard clause, invalid! It excludes consumer rights ### Distinction 3: Recall vs Return | | Recall | Return | |---|------|------| | Trigger Condition | Goods have a serious defect | Goods do not meet quality requirements | | Who Initiates | Operator voluntarily recalls (or ordered by administrative department) | Consumer voluntarily requests | | Scope | All goods of the same batch | The consumer's individually purchased goods | | Cost | Operator bears the necessary expenses** of recall | Operator bears return shipping costs | ### Distinction 4: False Advertising and Joint Liability
• Operators publishing false ads → Infringe on the right to know, bear compensation liability
• Advertising operators and publishers who cannot provide the operator's true information → Bear joint liability
• For false ads of goods/services related to consumer life and health → Advertising endorsers bear joint liability ⚠️ Distinguish: For general goods, endorsers of false ads are not liable; for life and health-related goods/services, endorsers of false ads must bear joint liability ### Distinction 5: "Goods in Good Condition" in 7-Day No-Reason Return for Online Shopping
• "Goods in good condition" means the goods themselves are intact and do not affect secondary sales
• Consumers opening the packaging to inspect the goods is not considered as goods not in good condition
• However, if use of the goods has significantly diminished their value, returns may be refused --- ## 8. Answer Template For subjective questions like "Did the operator violate obligations?":
  1. State the name of the specific obligation the operator should fulfill
  2. Explain what the operator did (referencing the material)
  3. Determine whether it constitutes a violation → What consumer rights were infringed
  4. Legal consequences (compensation/penalties/invalid standard clauses, etc.)
  5. Ways for consumers to protect their rights