Regulations on Prices of Goods and Services

At the request of competent authorities, business organizations and individuals must amend or cancel the infringing content and notify consumers who have signed the contract. In case the amendment or cancellation of the infringing content results in the terms of the contract signed with consumers or the general terms of transaction becoming invalid and causing damage to consumers, it shall be handled in accordance with the provisions of civil law.

Thus, the law only stipulates that registration of standard contracts and general transaction conditions is mandatory in cases where goods and services are on the list of essential goods and services issued by the Government. For goods and services that are not on the list above, although control is also regulated, the feasibility is not high.

2.1.5. Regulations on prices of goods and services

According to the provisions of Clause 2, Article 12 of the Law on Consumer Protection 2010, supermarket businesses are responsible for publicly posting prices of goods and services at the business location.

According to the provisions of the 2012 Law on Prices, for goods and services traded in supermarkets, supermarket traders have the right [18, Article 11]:

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- Self-determine prices of goods and services except for goods and services on the List of goods and services priced by the State.

- Decide on the selling price of goods and services for which the State regulates the price range, maximum price, and minimum price.

- Bidding, auctioning, price negotiation, price negotiation and price competition in other forms as prescribed by law when selling goods and services.

- Apply principles, bases and pricing methods prescribed by the State to price goods and services.

- Adjust prices of goods and services in accordance with fluctuations in price forming factors.

- Lowering the selling price of goods and services without being considered a violation of the law on competition and the law on anti-dumping of imported goods, and at the same time publicly posting at the transaction place the old price, new price, and discount period for cases as prescribed.

- Propose competent state agencies to adjust prices of goods and services produced and traded by themselves on the List of goods and services priced by the State.

- Access to information on State price policies; State price management and regulation measures and other public information.

- Complain, denounce or sue for acts showing signs of violating the law on prices; request organizations and individuals to compensate for damages caused by acts violating the law on prices according to the provisions of law.

Salespeople in general and supermarket operators in particular have the following obligations [18, Article 12]:

- Prepare a price plan for goods and services produced and traded by oneself in the List of goods and services priced by the State and submit it to the competent authority for decision.

- Comply with decisions on prices and price stabilization measures of competent state agencies.

- Register selling prices for goods and services subject to price registration and be responsible for the accuracy of registered prices according to the provisions of law.

- Declare the selling price of goods and services and be responsible for their accuracy.

The accuracy of the declared price for goods and services subject to price declaration according to Government regulations.

- List price:

+ For goods and services whose prices are determined by the State, the correct prices set by the competent State agency must be listed and sold at the correct listed price;

+ For goods and services not included in the List of goods and services with prices set by the State, the listed price is decided by the organization, individual producing, trading or supermarket business and cannot be sold at a higher price than the listed price.

- Publicly disclose information on prices of goods and services under its pricing authority according to regulations.

- Provide timely, accurate and complete relevant data and documents upon written request of competent state agencies in cases where the State sets prices and applies price stabilization measures for goods and services.

- Timely resolve all complaints about prices of goods and services produced and traded by you. Compensate for damages caused by violations of price laws according to the provisions of law.

According to the provisions of the 2012 Law on Prices, consumers have the right [18, Article 13]:

- Select, negotiate and give advice on prices when purchasing goods and services.

- Be provided with accurate and complete information about price, quality and origin of goods and services.

- Request compensation for damages when purchased goods and services do not meet the quality, quantity, price or other standards that the organization or individual producing or trading in goods and services has announced, listed or committed.

- Recommend competent state agencies to adjust prices of goods and services priced by the State when price forming factors change.

- Complain, denounce, sue or request social organizations to sue for acts showing signs of violating the law on prices according to the provisions of this Law and other relevant legal provisions.

However, as analyzed in chapter 1, the relationship between consumers and supermarket businesses is a form of standard contract relationship, consumers do not have the right to choose, negotiate and give feedback on prices when purchasing goods and services.

In order to enjoy the above rights, consumers also have the following obligations [18, Article 14 ]:

- Pay according to the selected price or the price regulated by the State when purchasing goods and services.

- Inform relevant state agencies, organizations and individuals when detecting acts showing signs of violating the law on prices.

Violations of price regulations may be subject to penalties according to Decree 109/2013/ND-CP regulating administrative penalties for violations in the field of price, fee, charge and invoice management.

Current regulations on prices of goods and services are an important legal basis for traders in general and supermarket operators in particular to implement, ensuring the rights of consumers regarding prices of goods and services.

2.1.6. Warranty regulations group

When buying or using a product or service, consumers expect that the product or service will have the quality they require.

However, in reality, the goods that consumers buy do not always have the same quality as the parties have agreed upon, and there may be defects that affect the features, functions, and purposes of use of the consumer. Therefore, the warranty liability regime was created to ensure that in case of defects, business organizations and individuals are obliged to repair and remedy the defects to ensure the quality of the goods is as agreed upon by the parties.

The Law on Consumer Protection 2010 does not stipulate that warranty is a mandatory responsibility of business organizations and individuals in all cases, nor does it specify which types of goods must be warranted. Therefore, it can be understood that warranty is agreed upon by the parties. In fact, warranty is one of the forms of attracting consumers that supermarket businesses apply.

Depending on their business strategy, supermarket businesses set out warranty periods, warranty methods, and other warranty contents not only to protect their reputation and brand but also to compete with other competitors in the market. Consumers also consider the warranty policy as one of the bases for deciding to buy a certain product. Therefore, the Law on Consumer Protection 2010 does not require all business organizations and individuals to implement it. However, to ensure that the warranty (in case the supermarket's sales conditions include warranty content) is fully implemented and to protect consumer rights, the law needs to intervene to regulate the warranty activities of supermarket businesses.

In addition, the Law on Consumer Protection 2010 also stipulates that warranty of goods and components may be a mandatory responsibility of organizations.

However, in which cases goods and components are required to be warranted, the law has not yet clearly defined the list.

Warranty liability normally only applies to goods, components, and accessories (tangible goods). The reason why business organizations and individuals must perform warranty obligations is because the goods have defects that affect the features, uses, and quality of the goods. In this case, business organizations and individuals must repair, fix, or replace the item. Therefore, warranty cannot be performed for services [1, p. 137].

Warranty liability is established for a certain period of time. Unlike other responsibilities, warranty liability does not exist permanently but only has a certain period of time called the warranty period. The warranty period is agreed upon by the parties, during which time if the goods have defects, the consumer has the right to request the business organization or individual to perform the warranty. After this period, the warranty liability of the business organization or individual ends, except in cases where the parties agree to extend the warranty period [1, p. 138].

Before the Law on Consumer Protection in 2010 was promulgated, the warranty regime was recognized in a number of legal documents, especially the Civil Code in 2005. The Civil Code devoted 4 articles (from Article 445 to Article 448) to regulate warranty obligations. However, the Civil Code mainly regulates relationships based on the principles of equality and freedom of agreement. Therefore, the regulations (including the warranty regime) were also built on those principles without taking into account the protection of consumer rights as a disadvantaged party.

In practice, when offering goods for sale, supermarket businesses often make attractive commitments and promises about warranty policies. However, when a transaction is established and a warranty obligation arises, the supermarket does not always seriously fulfill its commitments. In many cases, supermarket businesses find every way to refuse warranty obligations or blame consumers and find other reasons to avoid warranty obligations. Another form is to deliberately delay the warranty or perform the warranty many times, making consumers frustrated and abandon the warranty or let the warranty expire and avoid responsibility. In this case, the provisions of the Civil Code are not enough to protect the legitimate rights of consumers.

Before the Law on Consumer Protection in 2010 was promulgated, the Competition Management Department resolved a number of consumer disputes with traders related to product warranty policies. Through these cases, it can be seen that although consumers' requests are very legitimate, business organizations and individuals often seek to deny their responsibilities and consumers' rights have been violated.

To protect consumer rights and bind the responsibilities of business organizations and individuals, Article 21 of the Law on Consumer Protection 2010 stipulates: In case goods, components and accessories are under warranty, business organizations and individuals have the following responsibilities:

- Fully perform warranty obligations for goods, components and accessories provided by us;

- Provide consumers with a warranty receipt, clearly stating the warranty period. The warranty period is not included in the warranty period of goods, components, and accessories. In case organizations and individuals

In case of trading in goods that require replacement of components, accessories or exchange of new goods, the warranty period for such components, accessories or goods shall be calculated from the time of replacement of components, accessories or exchange of new goods;

- Provide consumers with similar goods, components, and accessories for temporary use or have other forms of settlement accepted by consumers during the warranty period;

- Exchange similar new goods, components, accessories or recall goods, components, accessories and refund consumers in case the warranty period expires without repair or error correction.

- Exchange similar new goods, components, and accessories or recall goods and refund money to consumers in case the goods, components, and accessories have been warranted three or more times during the warranty period but the error still cannot be fixed;

- Bear the costs of repair, transportation of goods, components, accessories to the warranty location and from the warranty location to the consumer's place of residence;

- Responsible for the warranty of goods, components and accessories for consumers, even in cases where other organizations or individuals are authorized to perform the warranty.

The above regulation is an important legal basis to ensure that supermarket businesses properly fulfill their committed product warranty obligations and protect consumer rights.

2.1.7. Regulations on dispute resolution

Different from dispute resolution in business, dispute resolution between consumers and business organizations and individuals in general