Some consumers not protecting their rights

Around 20 percent of consumers failed to take advantage of a new consumer law enacted on March 15 that gives them seven days to return goods for refunds, according to a survey conducted by the China Consumer's Association.

The regulation is part of the revised Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests, and it has led to many disputes, Chang Yu, secretary general with the China Consumer's Association, said at a news conference on Tuesday.

According to a survey of more than 14,000 consumers, over 30 percent of respondents said online shopping platforms failed to provide accurate contact information for the sellers.

The amendments to the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests was passed by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress in October.

Chang said the association will increase the supervision of online shopping platforms.

Chang noted that another item in the new consumer law, which stated that business owners should take strict measures to protect buyers' personal information, is difficult to implement.

The new law also stated that advertisers should not send commercial information to consumers without their approval.

Yang Hongcan, head of the consumer rights protection department with the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, said the implementation of the item would require coordinated efforts from different government departments, including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Ministry of Public Security.

"The protection of consumers' personal information cannot be solved after the revision of a single law or the efforts of a single government department," he said.

Yang said the new law has helped raise awareness of consumers' rights, as the industry and commercial authorities received a record number of consumer complaints in the first quarter of this year.

Industry and commercial authorities nationwide handled more than 244,000 consumer complaints in the first quarter, a year-on-year increase of 20.8 percent.

The amount of funds involved in the disputed cases also increased by 14.58 percent.

Yang said the authority will speed up the process of amending regulations that fail to comply with the new consumer law and increase efforts to supervise the implementation of the law.