At the same hotel, older users saw prices that were more expensive than new users; the same takeout, the apple phone users paid more than the anzor users... In the digital economy, many consumers have experienced “big data killing”。
How can a “no” be said to be unfair about the price of internet purchases? The rules for price conduct on internet platforms, developed jointly by the national directorate for market supervision, the national development reform commission and unoi, were put into effect on 10 april this year. As the country's first systematic regulatory regulation specifically regulating the price behaviour of internet platforms, the new regulation refers directly to such persistent problems as the “big data cut” “false promotion” that has plagued consumers for many years, effectively closing the loopholes in the rules。
"looking at the crowd"
The new regulations prohibit it
Ms. Zhang, who lives in kobashi, saw a national flag phone for $5999 on an electric power platform last year. Since she had no member of her platform account, she had asked her husband to help purchase it, and the price shown on her husband's mobile phone page had caused her to lose her glasses. “if i buy it myself, it shows that for $5,799 i think my husband's account is a vip member of the platform, and his price should be more favourable. I didn't know he wanted $5899.” ms. Chang。
Ms. Zhang was confronted with the “big data killing”. What is "big data kill"? In short, in the same commodity or service, the platform uses data analysis to differential pricing for older clients, leading to higher prices than new customers。
In interviews, journalists found that many consumers had experienced the platform's practice of “watching people”. Mr. Citizen money said that he had discovered that he had ordered the same delivery of his cell phone and his apple phone, and that the account price of the apple phone was often higher than that of his cell phone。
The rules on price conduct for internet platforms would expressly prohibit such a phenomenon. Journalists learned that one of the most critical breakthroughs of the new regulation was to clarify that the platform prohibited differential pricing based on user data. Article 15 of the rules specifies that the operator of the platform and the operator of the platform shall not violate article 9 of the regulations of the people's republic of china on the implementation of the consumer protection law, which provides that, without the knowledge of the consumer, different prices or fees shall be set for the same goods or services under the same terms of trade, using data and algorithms, platform rules, etc., on the basis of information such as payment will, capacity to pay, consumer preferences, consumption habits, etc。
This means that acts such as those of ms. Zhang and mr. Chan, which encounter price discrimination on the basis of membership or the type of cell phone, are officially defined as irregularities. Such a non-transparent “exclusive price” hidden behind the algorithm would face strict regulation。
Declining "current" numeric game
Mrs. Chen is used to hoarding daily supplies on live tapes. During this year's rush, a child's wet towel from a mother-child live broadcast was referred to as “the annual fracture price”, showing “an original price of 99 dollars and a carnival price of 39 dollars”. Ms. Chen purchased 10 bags in one instance. A few days later, she accidentally lit a daily link to the commodity and found it worth $43. The so-called “break price” is only $4 less than the daily price, and the so-called “original price of $99” is beyond verification. Ms. Chen then discovered that she had been misled by false discounts。
This fictional price, false discount “price game”, is another major target of this new regulation. The new regulations clearly require that price behaviour by the operator of the platform and by the operator of the platform should be guided by the principles of legal compliance, fairness and integrity, transparency and voluntary equality。
The new regulation states that price promotion activities carried out by the platform operator or the operator on the platform should indicate the promotion price or price promotion rules in a manner that facilitates consumer awareness, and that the promotion rules, the duration of the activity, the scope of application, etc. Should be published in a prominent location on the page, and that the real discount, the basis of the reduction, etc., should be indicated; where the credit is calculated through credits, coupons, coupons, vouchers, advances, etc., the specific method of calculation should be clearly indicated。
In addition, the new regulations provide for services such as automatic renewal, free payment, etc. Operators are required to demonstrate options to consumers in a significant manner and to provide easy access to cancellations. Where an automatic renewal, automatic deduction is used, each deduction is preceded by notice in a significant manner of the time, amount and route of cancellation of the payment by the consumer and the consumer is allowed to cancel at any time. Consumers are also required to be notified of changes in the rates。
The new rules lower the threshold for rights protection
Ms. Hu, a diamond guest from a tourist portal, was promised a discount of 8. 50 discounts on hotel reservations. In july 2020, she ordered, through the platform app, a luxury lake view bed in a brand-named hotel in the tourist area at a price of $2889. When ticketing leaves the store, the hotel advises that the actual billing price plus service charges and taxes are only $1377. 63. In other words, instead of benefiting from membership concessions, she paid double the house price。
Ms. Hu argued that the platform's use of its personal information and “high net value customers” labels to raise prices constituted “big data kill” and fraud, and brought them to court. The people's court of the kobashi district found that the platform had been the subject of false propaganda, price fraud and deception, and that the platform for final adjudication had “refunded to three” and awarded ms. Hu a sum of $4777. 48, three times the difference in the price of the house. The court also ordered the tourism portal to modify its privacy policy to remove unnecessary information collection and use by users。
The case of ms. Hu was referred to as the “no. 1 case of chao xing dynasty”. But more people, when confronted with the platform's “calculation”, tend to be left with a “difficult”. “the cost of defending rights is too high, and it is difficult for consumers themselves to prove that they have experienced `killing'.” a number of interviewees said。
However, from now on, the internet platform price conduct rules will “support” more consumers who have been subjected to “big data killing” and unfair prices. According to kim ping, a lawyer at zhejiang bwan, the new regulations further simplify and lower the threshold of proof for consumers, who need only provide preliminary evidence such as price differences to justify pricing. “the threshold has been lowered for consumers to defend themselves.”
“consumers who are exposed to unfair prices and suspected of being `killed' may, subject to the preservation of evidence, first resort to the platform's guest service. If the platform is squeezing, a complaint can be filed by calling 12315. For the platform, leaving the price trap and returning to the nature of competition between products and services is the long-term path to healthy industry.” kim ping said。
When algorithms are no longer “calculated”, consumers can truly enjoy a fair right to know and choose。
