Since the epidemic, RT-Mart supermarkets have been punished five times by the regulatory authorities for driving up prices and price fraud, and the fines have exceeded one million yuan. Carrefour and China Resources Vanguard have also been punished by the regulatory authorities for driving up prices. During the epidemic, from small business vendors to large supermarkets, from rural areas to cities, from food to medicines, similar behaviors have been repeatedly banned. In the face of the crimes committed by unscrupulous businessmen, both administrative penalties and criminal penalties are stipulated. How should the two be applied? Are all price increases illegal during the epidemic?
1. Legally independent pricing and driving up prices
Article 3 of the People's Republic of China Price Law stipulates that the state implements and gradually improves the market-based price formation mechanism under macroeconomic regulation. The price should be set in accordance with the law of value. The prices of most commodities and services are regulated by the market, and the prices of very few commodities and services are regulated by the government or government. In response to the occurrence of natural disasters, accidents or public health incidents, Article 49 (8) of the Emergency Response Law of the People’s Republic of China stipulates: People’s governments that perform unified leadership duties may severely punish hoarding, price hikes, Acts that disturb market order, such as counterfeiting and sales, stabilize market prices, and maintain market order. The General Administration of Market Supervision issued the Guidelines on the Investigation and Prosecution of Violation of Price Raising during the Prevention and Control of New Coronavirus Infection Pneumonia by Article 5 of the Regulations, which stipulates four types of behaviors that should be considered as price escalation.
Raising prices is a malicious activity of speculators forcibly raising the price level for profiteering. The main feature is the use of information fabrication, hoarding and other methods, and substantial price increases without significant changes in production costs and operating costs. The legal independent pricing is more because the purchase price changes and the sales price increases. During the epidemic situation, the operator's independent pricing power is subject to special restrictions. It is not that no price changes are allowed, but that price changes should strictly abide by the People's Republic of China Price Law and Regulations on the Implementation of Clear Prices for Goods and Services. Waiting for price laws, regulations and rules, strictly operating in accordance with the law and legally exercising independent pricing power. A strict distinction should be made between the illegal business behavior of uplifting prices and the market economic behavior of increasing prices according to the law of value. According to the principles of Marxist economics, commodity prices fluctuate up and down on the basis of commodity values. In a socialist market economy, the relationship between supply and demand on the market is an important factor affecting commodity prices. The outbreak of the epidemic occurred during the Spring Festival, when the production costs of masks and disinfection water increased, and a certain price increase was a normal market phenomenon.
2. Analysis of administrative responsibility for driving up prices
During the epidemic, news such as Dongkou No.1 pharmacy was fined 50,000 yuan for selling masks (to raise prices) and 3 pounds and half cabbage sold for 98 yuan! Hualian Shopping Plaza, Xinyang Mall County, Henan Province was punished for raising prices. At present, administrative penalties are the main method for dealing with price hikes. Because the Guidance Opinions do not clearly stipulate the percentage of price increase, in the specific implementation process, some regions are based on the price difference rate mentioned in the documents of the provincial government supervision and management department, such as the purchase and sales regulations specified by Guizhou Province. The spread rate should not exceed 35%. The punishment basis includes:
Article 6 of the Administrative Penalties for Price Illegal Acts: Operators who violate the provisions of Article 14 of the Price Law and have one of the following acts that promote excessively high and excessively high commodity prices shall be ordered to correct, confiscate the illegal gains, and A fine of less than 5 times the illegal gains; if there is no illegal gains, a fine of more than 50,000 yuan but less than 500,000 yuan, and a heavier case, a fine of more than 500,000 yuan and less than 3 million yuan; if the circumstances are serious, it shall be ordered to suspend business for rectification. Or the business license shall be revoked by the industrial and commercial administration.
Article 40 of Price Law of the People's Republic of China: If an operator commits one of the acts listed in Article 14 of this Law, he shall be ordered to correct it, and his illegal income shall be confiscated, and a fine of not more than five times the illegal income may be imposed concurrently; If the income is obtained, a warning may be given and a fine may be imposed; if the circumstances are serious, it shall be ordered to suspend business for rectification, or the business license shall be revoked by the administrative department for industry and commerce. If the relevant laws provide otherwise for the punishment of the acts listed in Article 14 of this Law and the punishment authority, they may be implemented in accordance with the relevant laws. The acts listed in Articles 14(1) and (2) of this Law are national, and are determined by the State Council's Price Supervision Department; those that belong to the province and below are provincial, autonomous regions, Recognized by the competent price department of the municipal government.
3. Analysis of criminal responsibility for driving up prices
The Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate issued the Interpretation of Several Issues on the Specific Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases Disrupting the Prevention and Control of Emergent Infectious Disease Epidemic Situations, which clarifies violations of the state's efforts to prevent and control emergencies and other disasters. During the period, relevant market operation and price management regulations, such as raising prices and profiteering, seriously disrupting market order, or having a large amount of illegal income or other serious circumstances, in accordance with the provisions of Article 225 (4) of the Criminal Law, Convicted for the crime of illegal operation and punished severely in accordance with the law. The determination of the behavior of busting up prices in the crime of illegal business operation is based on administrative violations of the law, and if an act does not violate state regulations, it only violates local regulations and departmental rules lower than the state regulations, which does not constitute an illegal business crime. . At the same time, the behavior of coaxing prices to disturb the market order has disrupted the market trading order.
Determination of illegal income
The Supreme People’s Procuratorate and the Ministry of Public Security’s “Provisions on the Standards for Prosecution of Criminal Cases under the Public Security Organs (2)” stipulates: “The amount of illegal business operations by individuals is more than 50,000 yuan, or the illegal income is more than 10,000 yuan” More than 500,000 yuan, or the amount of illegal income is more than 100,000 yuan should be filed as a crime of illegal business. It should be noted that the price after the sale includes cost, legal profit and illegal profit. Therefore, in the author's opinion, the amount of illegal operation in the crime of illegal operation of the sale of the price should not be calculated according to the price after the sale, but should be subtracted from the price after the sale. The cost and the illegal profit after the legal profit are calculated.
Dealing with laws and regulations
If the perpetrator impersonates qualified alcohol and raises prices and seeks violence to constitute illegal business crime, it is an act that both commits the crime of producing and selling fake and inferior commodities, and also commits the crime of illegal business. When a similar situation occurs, imaginative competition occurs. According to the Interpretations on Several Issues Concerning the Specific Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases of Production and Sale of Fake and Inferior Commodities, conviction and punishment should be made in accordance with the provisions of heavier penalties. It should be noted that in this scenario, because the actor knows that he is selling unqualified goods, there is no legal income, so there is no need to subtract the costs and legal profits mentioned above.
4. Conclusion
During the epidemic, the circulation of commodities was not as convenient as in the past, and the selectivity of the people was also greatly reduced. Some operators lacked awareness of integrity, law-abiding, and social responsibility. The actions of these operators to drive up prices and hoard strangeness not only damage the market order, but also affect the normal life of every common person. Combining administrative responsibilities with criminal responsibilities, severely cracking down on behaviors that disrupt market order, such as raising prices and looting on fire, safeguarded the normal operation of social order and safeguarded the immediate interests of the people.
In the end, morality comes first, and benefits come second.