Gyeonggi-do Reports 714 Mask Consumer Damage Cases in Just Ten Days

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province confirmed that as many as 714 cases of damage related to health masks were reported within just 10 days after receiving complaints related to the 'Novel Coronavirus Infection' (COVID-19).

Gyeonggi Province announced on the 16th that under the direction of Governor Lee Jae-myung, it established and operated the 'Mask Consumer Damage Report Center (031-251-9898)' at the Gyeonggi Consumer Information Center starting from the 31st of last month, the first among local governments, and received 714 reports within 10 days.

According to the reports, 611 cases (85.6%) involved using internet open markets such as joint discount purchases. This was followed by 38 cases (5.3%) involving individual sales sites, and 30 cases (4.2%) via home shopping. Other reports related to secondhand transactions or general stores totaled 35 cases (4.9%).

By case type (with overlapping counts), requests or unilateral cancellations of orders by sellers accounted for 489 cases (68.5%), overwhelmingly the most. Reports of unilateral mask price increases also accounted for 170 cases (23.8%).

Additionally, there were 128 cases (17.9%) of delivery delays, and 103 cases (14.4%) of unfair practices such as deletion of sales posts or inability to contact sellers, making cancellations difficult.

There were also 23 reports suspected of mask hoarding.

According to the current Electronic Commerce Consumer Protection Act, telecommunication sales businesses must take necessary measures to supply products within 7 days from the date the consumer places an order, and if the consumer has paid in advance, they must refund or take necessary refund measures within 3 business days from the payment date.

If it becomes difficult to supply the product, the seller must promptly inform the consumer of the reason and refund or take necessary refund measures within 3 business days.

The province is conducting joint inspections with the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, the Fair Trade Commission, the National Tax Service, and the National Police Agency to investigate mask sellers violating hoarding regulations and the Electronic Commerce Act, while also conducting separate investigations with its own inspection team composed of the Fair Consumer Division and the Special Judicial Police Unit for Public Welfare.

First, the province took administrative actions such as corrective recommendations on the 14th against four companies confirmed to have violated the Electronic Commerce Consumer Protection Act. Additional investigations will continue for other companies suspected of legal violations.

The province will continue to receive reports through the report center (031-251-9898) regarding acts that exploit consumer anxiety for excessive profits or disrupt online transaction order.

Governor Lee Jae-myung previously emphasized on his SNS, "Taking significantly unfair profits by exploiting others' desperate situations is a clear crime."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.