Consumers, merchants at odds over refund

The revised consumer rights law, which includes a seven day cooling-off period for returning goods for refunds after online transactions, has given rise to a large number of disputes between consumers and business owners, the country's top industry and commerce authority said.

Industry and commerce authorities nationwide received 1,380 consumer complaints arising from such disputes on the item in the new consumer rights law in the first half of the year, said Yu Fachang, spokesman for the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, at a news conference on Monday.

"The disputes are largely about how the cooling-off period applies in actual situations and how to define whether the products are well-preserved," he said.

Yu said the authority is considering a regulation on online shopping to solve the disputes.

The revision to the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests was passed by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the top legislature, in October. It was enacted on March 15.