Research On The Cooling-off Period System For Internet Consumers

The consumer cooling-off period system refers to the right of the law to allow consumers to cancel the contract within a certain period of time after the conclusion of the contract,but without being liable for breach of contract.It has the characteristics of subjectspecificity,unilateralism,non-causality,legality of time limit and limited scope,and is a new type of consumer right.This system is not only conducive to the protection of the legitimate rights and interests of consumers in online transactions,but also plays a certain role in regulating the behavior of business operators,and ultimately promotes the realization of substantive social fairness.Article 25 of China’s new Consumer Rights Protection Law involves the online consumer cooling-off period system,which is a major progress in consumer rights protection legislation and fills the lack of consumer rights protection in the field of remote transactions.However,at the same time,it cannot be ignored that on the one hand,China’s cooling-off period system started and developed late,so the system regulations are still relatively rough;On the other hand,the vigorous development of the Internet economy has further aggravated the disparity between operators and consumers,making various problems arising from the operation of the cooling-off period system increasingly prominent,such as too narrow the scope of the system,unreasonable deadlines,abuse of power,imperfect dispute resolution mechanisms,etc.,and the lack of corresponding supporting measures to ensure the operation effect of the system.In view of this,the author believes that it can be improved from the following three aspects.First of all,in terms of the scope of application of the system,it can be appropriately expanded based on the characteristics of special trading fields,r ather than blindly expanding the scope.Secondly,in terms of system application rules,try to refine the specific system design,such as excluding the setting of consumer confirmation procedures in the application of cooling-off periods,and specifying the starting point of exercise in the consumer exercise period,so as to reduce tra nsaction disputes.Finally,it emphasizes the supporting measures to improve the system,jointly ensure the effective operation of the cooling-off period system,and ultimately promote the establishment of a good online shopping trading environment in China and promote the stable development of the Internet economy.