Source: Xinhua Viewpoint
Recently, many places have adopted the method of subsidies for consumption to promote the recovery of consumption, but the "Xinhua Viewpoint" reporter found that with the wave of coupon grabbing, some "wool parties" have taken advantage of regulatory and technical loopholes to cash out and trade consumer coupons to obtain benefits.
At present, this phenomenon has aroused the vigilance of regulatory authorities, and many places are constantly improving the use of consumption coupons. Zhengzhou and other places issued notices on this phenomenon, saying that relevant legal responsibilities will be pursued by those who cash out consumer coupons.
fake consumption and cooperate with merchants to cash out
Recently, some WeChat groups have such a conversation: "Friends who have received consumption coupons are welcome to help cash out. I have a store collection code!" "Is anyone helping to cash out the consumption coupons? 20% off!"
Although a coupon is only 10 yuan, and some cities stipulate that each person can only get 50 yuan in consumption coupons each time, some people are still thinking about cashing out the 50 yuan.
reporters found that if you need to find a partner merchant to obtain these 10 yuan consumption coupons, then pay 30 yuan to the merchant through a third-party payment platform. With the 10 yuan consumption coupon, the merchant actually receives 40 yuan, and can refund 35 to 38 yuan in cash on the spot, and the remaining 2 to 5 yuan is the "processing fee" for cash out collected by the merchant.
Citizen Ms. Jiang told reporters that since the first wave of coupons does not restrict the recipient from being a merchant, the "wool party" can cash out by scanning each other and there is no need to consume at all. Later, the platform began to use technical means to intercept cheating, and the "wool party" turned to qualified merchants to cooperate in cashing out and share accounts.
More than tech security experts told reporters that at present, the "wool party" can use some technical means to hoard coupons: some people write programs and open plug-ins to grab coupons; some people bypass the regional restrictions on the collection of consumer coupons through virtual IP addresses or virtual locations, and form groups to grab coupons nationwide. "So it is often the 'wool party' that stock up on coupons in large quantities, but ordinary citizens are hard to find coupons."
Alipay Relevant staff responded to whether there were technical loopholes in third-party payment platforms, saying that Alipay's current real-name authentication and risk control capabilities can ensure user authenticity and prevent tampering with positioning information or batch registration to grab coupons. If merchants violate regulations and consumers forgery transactions are suspected of illegal, law enforcement will be jointly cracked down on them.
Second-hand trading network frequently buy and sell consumer coupon information
More than the instructions for use of consumer coupons clearly stipulate that "this coupon cannot be transferred and sold", but the reporter found that in addition to monetizing consumer coupons through merchants' "cooperation" to merchants, some "wool parties" also resell consumption coupons to others at a price of 50% to 60% off the face value.
reporter found a large amount of information about re-sale consumption coupons on second-hand trading platforms such as Xianyu and Zhuanzhuan, involving many places such as Shandong, Guangdong, Anhui, Jiangxi, and Jiangsu. The face value of a single consumption coupon is as low as 20 yuan and the most is as high as more than 200 yuan. Some publishers pack a variety of face value consumption coupons and resell them at half price, while others sell them at half price per piece.
"First come first served, no return or exchange will be sold." Xianyu platform "I want to shine 01241996" user released information saying that the Zibo and Huantai supermarket consumption coupons are sold, and the major shopping malls and supermarkets such as Huiqianjia and Lianhua Supermarket are available. The 100 yuan, 50 yuan and 20 yuan face value consumption coupons are sold at 50 yuan, 20 yuan and 5 yuan respectively.
At the same time, there are also people on the platform to collect coupons. Xianyu's "Late Winter Cold Snow" released information saying that it had acquired consumption coupons. The reporter consulted and said that the other party only purchased the "merchant code" of Shunde and Sanshui, and asked the reporter which type of consumption coupons to sell, and asked the screenshot of the coupon code to view in advance.
reporter also found information about buying and selling consumption coupons on some post bar websites. In Baidu Post Bar "Xinmi Bar", someone posted a post about buying and selling consumption coupons: "I just collected consumption coupons and I received 200 yuan, and some came."
The Finance Bureau of a provincial capital in East China responded to the issue of consumer coupon supervision that consumption coupon funds come from multiple departments. After each competent department signed an agreement with the third-party payment platform, the fiscal funds were allocated to the third party through various departments. The actual amount of consumption redemption funds was deducted from it, and the balance funds were paid back to the finance department. It was not clear that a certain department supervised the use of consumption coupons.
fills regulatory loopholes and ensures that the "coupon" is used for the best use
, director of the Economic Research Institute of Shandong Academy of Social Sciences, Zhang Weiguo, said that consumption coupons are speculated by the "wool party" to make profits, which not only disrupts the market order, but also leads to a significant reduction in the effectiveness of the policy, and even causes economic losses to local governments, enterprises and consumers.
Liu Junhai, professor at the School of Law of Renmin University of China, believes that "the malicious 'wool fetching' phenomenon must be resolutely cracked down. Relevant departments should strengthen supervision and punishment, and relevant platforms should continuously upgrade more effective technical monitoring and risk prevention and control methods."
Lu Boxiong, deputy director of Zhejiang Jinglin (Guangzhou) Law Firm, said that the "wool party" false transactions and cancellation of consumption coupons may constitute the crime of fraud. If a merchant specifically makes a profit by helping citizens cash out, and the amount is large, it may also be suspected of fraud.
Some places have paid attention to this phenomenon. On April 30, the Zhengzhou Municipal Bureau of Commerce and other three departments jointly issued the "Notice on Matters Related to the Standardization of the Use of Social Consumption Coupons" requires that illegal acts such as cashing out consumer coupons through false transactions; it is strictly prohibited to publish and disseminate illegal information such as cashing out consumer coupons through information channels such as social software and online platforms. According to staff from Zhengzhou Municipal Bureau of Commerce, Zhengzhou has worked with third-party platforms to monitor abnormal transactions through big data, such as using large-scale consumption coupons in small shops, which will be followed up and dealt with in a timely manner.
Liu Xiangdong, deputy director of the Economic Research Department of China International Economic Exchange Center, said that technical means should be used to improve the design of the consumption coupon issuance system. For example, blockchain technology can be used to monitor the transaction process, formulate identification strategies for online timely marking and interception, provide credit binding, and set up marketing activities and punishment processes.
In addition, experts recommend penalties for cash out and cancellation of the qualifications of cooperative units, or no consumption subsidy funds are provided. Lu Boxiong believes that the government and its entrusted payment institutions should strengthen big data analysis, strengthen screening of abnormal transaction records, and try to avoid the act of canceling consumption coupons through false transactions. At the same time, credit supervision of those who apply for consumption coupons and merchants who implement consumption coupon deductions should be strengthened, so that those who take advantage of loopholes and even commit crimes should pay the corresponding credit costs.
Xinhua News Agency "Xinhua Viewpoint" reporters Wang Yang, Sang Tong, Zheng Shengzhu, Feng Dapeng
