Fair Trade Commission. yunhap news-It is a violation of the law for the online shopping mall business to return or refund the product to the customer at will and return the product to the supplier, unlike the return conditions agreed in advance with the supplier.
In addition, the act of an online shopping mall business operator receiving a product from a product A agency, changing the customer to a product A manufacturer, and returning product A to the agency, is also an unfair transaction.
The Fair Trade Commission announced on the 31st that it will finally finalize the enactment of the’Guidelines for Examining Unfair Trade Behaviors of Online Shopping Mall Businesses’, which contain detailed screening standards for major unfair trade practices of online shopping malls and examples of violations, and take effect from the 1st of next month.
The draft guideline was finalized after an administrative notice, which contained specific criteria for evaluating major unfair trade practices occurring in the rapidly growing online shopping market.
Regarding the prohibition on returns, the enactment of the guidelines stipulated the criteria for determining’justifiable reasons’ for which returns may be permitted. In view of this, the judgment was made by comprehensively considering whether or not a reasonable reason was agreed with the supplier in advance and the content of the agreement, the form and characteristics of the delivery transaction, and the purpose and intention of return.
In particular, it was also clarified that the online shopping mall operator is responsible for proving that there is a legitimate reason for the return.
Online shopping. yunhap news-Regarding the prohibition on the transfer of the burden of sales promotion costs, the standard for collective agreements has been relaxed to allow for a single, written agreement within a reasonably foreseeable period.
It was clarified that the sales promotion cost was calculated by adding the expenditure incurred during the sales promotion event and the reduced income. The standard was specified to calculate the amount paid by the supplier by summing all the expenses paid by the supplier during the event.
The content of management information on supply conditions and costs was also specified in the provisions of prohibiting online shopping mall operators from requesting unfair management information. In particular, the criteria for improper judgment were also stipulated to be judged by comprehensively considering the characteristics of the product.
In addition, specific screening criteria have been established for prohibiting requests for providing economic benefits and prohibiting acts of providing disadvantages.
This screening guideline is the guideline for examining unfair trade practices by distribution industry, which is first enacted after the guidelines for judging the illegality of TV home shopping.
Accordingly, the FTC expected to improve the rationality of law enforcement through the criteria for judging illegality that reflects the characteristics of online transactions.
The Fair Trade Commission added that the regulations related to the prohibition of improper transfer of sales promotion expenses among the review guidelines will be implemented from January 1, 2022, when the application of the guidelines expires.
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