China's e-commerce giants revise consumer refund rules

Chinese major e-commerce platforms, including Taobao, Pinduoduo and JD will fully scrap the controversial "refund-only" policy, which allows consumers to request refunds without returning the goods after delivery.

Post-purchasing refund applications will be handled by merchants. Previously, e-commerce platforms could initiate refunds without approval from merchants, enabling customers to receive reimbursements without returning the purchased products.

The "refund-only" policy was first introduced by Pinduoduo in 2021 to enhance consumer satisfaction, while other online platforms such as JD, Taobao, Douyin and Kuaishou followed suit. However, this practice has led to financial losses for merchants, who risk losing both money and goods.

Taobao said in a statement that in order to make a balance between protecting the merchants' rights and interests and improving consumer experience, the platform will not intervene in consumers' applications for refunds without the return of goods. Instead, sellers will negotiate with consumers first to handle such issues.

Last July, Taobao optimized the refund rules to reduce cutthroat competition, a move later mirrored by JD and Kuaishou.

Industry experts said the full termination of the refund-without-return policy will help alleviate financial pressures on merchants and curb the unregulated competitive practices in China's e-commerce sector, while prompting the healthy and regulated development of the industry.