As internet technology gradually develops and e-commerce increasingly penetrates society, Taipei City Law Department recently announced January’s inspection of 30 online retailers’ shopping terms, return/exchange rules and 9 other specifications to determine compliance with “Standard Provisions for Online Retail Standardized Contracts.” Results revealed all e-commerce operators uniformly violated laws.
Among them, Aibaobuy had the most 6 non-compliant items. Additionally, 26 operators confuse returns/exchanges and Civil Code warranty responsibilities, 1 failed to document. The Law Department stated it has notified operators to improve within deadline; unimproved operators face NT$30,000-300,000 fines.
🚨 Main Violation Patterns and Businesses
Law Department Chief Consumer Protection Officer He Hsiu-luan stated this audit discovered several main violation issues:
- Incomplete Enterprise Information (18 Non-compliant):
- Operators failing to provide complete business operator information. If operator identity, address, contact methods unclear, may involve fraud, overseas operations (especially mainland China), or counterfeit sales. Consumer disputes hard to handle if enterprise unclear.
- Confusing 7-Day Cooling-Off Period and Warranty (26 Non-compliant):
- Per Civil Code, if online-purchased goods had defects before delivery, consumers can claim warranty within 6 months of discovery. But online retailers confuse this with 7-day unconditional contract termination, causing period-related disputes.
- Known operators like PChome Online Shopping, ETtoday, Sheng-Sheng Shopping all non-compliant.
- Mislabeled Price Clauses Non-Compliant (14 Non-compliant):
- In mislabeled price clauses, 14 operators failed documentation, 14 operators’ documented content non-compliant.
- 7-Day Inspection Period Exclusion Non-Compliant:
- Since January 1 this year, “Communication Transaction Withdrawal Right Reasonable Exception Standards” take effect. For non-standard goods, consumers within 7 days of receipt can unconditionally return.
- Among audited operators, 27 sold non-standard goods, yet 18 operators’ documented content non-compliant.
- Among these, Ruten Auction seller althiser8939 directly stated no 7-day inspection period, clearly violating Consumer Protection Law Article 19.
Law Department Reminder: Operators notified for improvement. Non-improved by deadline face legal fines.