The State Administration for Market Regulation issued an opinion: Investigate and punish illegal acts of price gouging

On June 10, the website of the State Administration for Market Regulation released the "Guiding Opinions of the State Administration for Market Regulation on Investigating and Punishing Illegal Behaviors of Price Gouging"
.
The "Guiding Opinions" proposed that market supervision departments should make full use of market-oriented and legal methods to investigate and punish illegal acts such as price gouging in accordance with the law, and effectively maintain market price order
.

The "Guiding Opinions" clarifies the determination of illegal acts of price gouging:

(1) If the operator has any of the following behaviors that promote or may promote the price of commodities to rise too fast or too high, the market supervision department may determine that it constitutes an illegal act of price gouging stipulated in Article 6, Item 1 of the "Administrative Penalties for Price Violations" :

1.
Fabricating and disseminating information on production and purchase costs;

2.
Fabricating and disseminating information about the shortage of supply or the surge in market demand;

3.
Fabricating and disseminating information that other operators have raised or are preparing to raise prices;

4.
The dissemination of information contains urgent or inductive terms such as "will raise prices in an all-round way", "price increase tide", etc.
, pushing up price expectations;

5.
Spreading information to induce other operators to increase prices;

6.
Fabricating or spreading other information that promotes or may push commodity prices to rise too fast or too high
.

(2) If the operator has any of the following behaviors that promote or may promote the price of commodities to rise too fast or too high, the market supervision department may determine that it constitutes an illegal act of price gouging stipulated in the second item of Article 6 of the "Administrative Punishment for Price Violations" :

1.
Operators in the production process, without justifiable reasons, do not sell the produced products in a timely manner, exceeding the normal storage quantity or storage period, and hoarding a large number of commodities with tight market supply and abnormal price fluctuations, and continue to hoard goods after being warned by the market supervision department of;

2.
Operators in the production process, in addition to production and self-use, exceeding the normal storage quantity or storage period, hoarding a large number of raw materials with tight market supply and abnormal price fluctuations, and continuing to hoard after being warned by the market supervision department;

3.
Circulation operators who fail to sell goods in a timely manner without justifiable reasons, exceed the normal storage quantity or storage period, and hoard a large number of goods with tight market supply and abnormal price fluctuations, and continue to hoard goods after being warned by the market supervision department
.

If the operator is in the circumstances specified in the preceding paragraph, but it can be proved that its behavior is in accordance with the requirements of the government or relevant government departments to reserve or allocate materials, it does not constitute an illegal act of price gouging
.

If the market supervision department has publicly warned against hoarding through announcements, meetings, interviews, written reminders, etc.
, it is deemed that the warning procedure has been completed in accordance with the law, and it is not necessary to give a separate warning
.

(3) If a business operator commits any of the following acts of pushing commodity prices to rise too fast or too high, the market supervision department may determine that it constitutes an illegal act of driving up prices as prescribed in item 3, Article 6 of the Administrative Penalties for Violations of Pricing:

1.
In the process of selling commodities, forcibly tying commodities and substantially increasing commodity prices in disguised form;

2.
Not raising the price of the commodity, but unreasonably increasing the transportation cost or charging other unreasonable fees;

3.
Significantly increase the price of commodities when the cost has not increased significantly, or although the cost has increased, the increase in the commodity price is significantly higher than the increase in the cost;

4.
Using other means to drive up prices and push commodity prices to rise too fast or too high
.

The “substantially increased” and “significantly higher” in the preceding paragraphs shall be determined by the market supervision department based on the actual operating conditions, subjective maliciousness, commodity types, and social harm degree of the illegal acts, etc.
, and other factors in the case investigation and handling process.

.

According to the "Guiding Opinions", an operator who has one of the following circumstances may be given a heavier punishment according to law:

(1) Fabricating or spreading false information about the tension between commodity supply and demand, causing market panic and pushing up price expectations;

(2) Using multiple means to drive up prices at the same time;

(3) The act of driving up prices lasts for a long time and has a wide range of influence;

(4) The illegal act of price gouging has been investigated and punished more than twice within a year;

(5) Forging, concealing or destroying relevant evidential materials;

(6) Obstructing or refusing to cooperate with the price supervision and inspection carried out in accordance with the law;

(7) Other circumstances that can be determined to be heavier in accordance with the law
.

If an industry association or a unit providing services for commodity trading constitutes an illegal act of price gouging, it shall be punished in accordance with Article 6 of the "Regulations on Administrative Penalties for Violations of Pricing"
.