Cooling-off period for e-shoppers proposed

Online shoppers should be granted a seven-day cool-off period, within which they would be able to get a refund, a draft amendment presented to the legislature on Tuesday has proposed.

The move, which comes 20 years after the enactment of a consumer rights law, wants to ensure e-shoppers' right to choose and grant them the right to unilaterally terminate contracts.

"Consumers should have the right to return goods within seven days and get a refund," the proposal said, adding that business owners have to refund consumers within a seven-day period after they receive the goods.

Li Shishi, director of the Commission for Legislative Affairs of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, the top legislature, said the proposal also applies to TV and phone sales.

This is the first time that the top legislature is considering amending the consumer rights law to protect online shoppers' rights and interests, amid the explosion of China's e-commerce market.

Internet, TV and telephone-based shopping are surging, Li said.

While briefing national lawmakers during a three-day bimonthly legislative session that opened on Tuesday, Li said that the new shopping forms — such as e-shopping — differ from conventional shopping, as online shoppers cannot check the goods' authenticity and are susceptible to deceptive advertising.

"Consumers select the goods merely through pictures and text descriptions," he said.