Wang Jingli

wangjingli0715@163.com

SHENZHEN Consumer Council will supervise businesses requiring consumers to make payments by scanning QR codes and enhance efforts to address complaints pertaining to prepaid consumption, the organization said at a news conference yesterday, World Consumer Rights Day.

Nowadays, it is not unusual for consumers to make payments by scanning QR codes while shopping, dining at restaurants and parking cars, the council said.

However, compulsory QR code scanning for consumption involves a breach of privacy and is a violation of consumers’ right to know and choose, it said.

According to a recent survey conducted by the council, a total of 97.02 percent of the respondents — 36 large and medium-sized supermarkets and shopping malls, and 260 outlets of 26 restaurant chains — require consumers to scan QR codes to make payments.

Around 95.64 percent of them even require customers to scan QR codes to follow their businesses’ official WeChat accounts before allowing them to pay for their transactions.

Meanwhile, the council said it handled over 199,000 consumer complaints in 2020, with 29,000 involving prepaid consumption.

Also at the press conference, the council unveiled a ranking of five mainstream fresh food delivery e-commerce players based on a consumer evaluation index between March 1 last year and Feb. 28 this year.

Out of a 10-point scoring system, Missfresh topped with a score of 7.44, followed by Dingdong Maicai (7.04), Pupu Mall (7.02), Hema Fresh (6.9) and Meituan Maicai (6.86).

All of them performed well in handling complaints, being able to respond to and proceed with consumers’ complaints timely and efficiently.

Missfresh outperformed its  four competitors in terms of speed in offering solutions to complaints and the success rate of mediation involving the consumer council.

Dingdong Maicai excelled in negotiating reconciliation and the success rate of mediation by the consumer council.

Pupu Mall showed satisfactory performances in the speed of processing orders and providing solutions to complaints, successful mediation by the consumer council and mediator score.

The annual World Consumer Rights Day on March 15, often referred to as “315” in China, has become a major television and social media event in China, thanks to CCTV’s “315 Evening Gala” dedicated to exposing alleged malpractices, a show watched by millions.