Author: Lawyer Geng Bijun
III. Key Points of Rectification for the Charging Behavior of Industry Associations and Chambers of Commerce and Typical Cases
From 2021 to 2023, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the State Administration for Market Regulation jointly issued notices every year regarding the self - inspection, self - correction, spot - checks, and inspections of the charging of national industry associations and chambers of commerce. Relevant industry management departments, including those from the development and reform commission, market supervision, finance, civil affairs, and human resources and social security, have focused on cleaning up, standardizing, and conducting special rectifications on the chaotic charging issues of industry associations and chambers of commerce, which have been strongly reflected by society and enterprises. Based on these notices and practices, this article has sorted out the following key points of rectification and some typical cases.
Forcing or covertly forcing membership and charging membership fees
The market supervision department in Shaanxi Province corrected the case of the Shaanxi Urban Gas and Heat Association covertly forcing membership and charging membership fees.
The gas appliance registration certificate is a certificate of conformity for gas appliances after gas quality adaptability testing. Gas appliance business enterprises without this certificate cannot participate in government bidding, and gas operating enterprises will not provide gas ignition for gas appliances without the registration certificate. The Shaanxi Urban Gas and Heat Association required gas appliance production and sales enterprises to submit materials and pay membership fees to it before they could apply for the Shaanxi gas appliance registration certificate and have it announced on the association's website. From January 1, 2019, to December 31, 2020, a total of 1.179 million yuan in membership fees was collected.
The local market supervision department, based on the "Regulations on Optimizing the Business Environment" and the "Notice of the General Office of the State Council on Further Standardizing the Charging of Industry Associations and Chambers of Commerce," transferred this illegal act of charging membership fees to the competent industry department for serious handling in accordance with the law.
Only charging membership fees without providing services, or repeatedly charging for basic service items included in the membership fees
From 2018 to 2020, in addition to charging membership fees according to the standards in the articles of association, a certain association in Shenzhen also charged additional membership fees based on the actual number of vehicles owned by member enterprises, at a rate of 25 yuan per vehicle per year. In violation of the standard stipulated in the articles of association, it over - charged 1,033,100 yuan in membership fees. The association illegally and repeatedly charged member enterprises membership fees beyond the prescribed grades. The Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Civil Affairs issued a warning in accordance with the law.
Illegally charging by taking advantage of legal responsibilities, entrustment or authorization by administrative organs, or other administrative influence
(1) The market supervision department in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region investigated and dealt with the case of Baise Anyuan Technology Co., Ltd. imposing additional charges.
The party was responsible for the installation and operation and maintenance of the hotel industry public security management system. During the installation of the hotel industry public security management system, the party provided two face - recognition methods for customers to choose from: one was free installation and free training for use, and the other was to purchase the company's equipment, with equipment fees ranging from 3,000 yuan to 8,000 yuan. By leveraging its special position as the system's operation and maintenance unit, the party emphasized that the free method had problems such as long time - consumption, low - grade quality, and unstable upload, inducing enterprises to purchase the company's equipment at high prices. Since September 2020, 52 newly added hotels had purchased the company's equipment at a price 10% higher than that of similar products, with a total charge of 326,800 yuan.
The local market supervision department, based on the "Notice of the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the General Office of the State Council on Forwarding the 'Regulations on the Management of Random Charges' by the Ministry of Finance," ordered the correction of the illegal act and the return of the illegally charged fees. As of September 30, all 326,800 yuan of the illegally charged fees had been returned.
(2) The market supervision department in Yunnan Province investigated and dealt with the case of the Yunnan Construction Registration and Examination Center forcing charges.
The Department of Housing and Urban - Rural Development of Yunnan Province developed and constructed the "Integrated Platform for Construction Market Supervision and Credit," which is an e - government platform. On January 1, 2019, the Department of Housing and Urban - Rural Development of Yunnan Province handed over the operation and maintenance of this platform to the Yunnan Construction Registration and Examination Center. The Yunnan Construction Registration and Examination Center required users to log in to the platform using electronic certification certificates and keys. Without electronic certification, they could not log in to the platform, and it charged enterprises and individuals for CA digital certificate services (electronic certification services). From 2019 to 2020, a total of 10,249,500 yuan was illegally charged.
The local market supervision department, based on the "Notice of the Ministry of Finance, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on Standardizing the Charge Management of E - government Platforms," ordered the correction of the illegal act and urged the return of the illegally charged fees.
Illegally charging for selection and award - giving through appraisal, evaluation, and commendation activities
The market supervision department in Zhejiang Province investigated and dealt with the case of the Zhejiang Arts and Crafts Industry Association charging participation fees through an appraisal activity.
In February 2019, the party issued the "Notice on Holding the 9th China (Zhejiang) Arts and Crafts Exposition," and from April 19 to 22, 2019, the "9th China (Zhejiang) Arts and Crafts Exposition" was held in Hangzhou. During this period, the "Zhejiang Arts and Crafts Excellence Award" was evaluated, with gold, silver, and bronze awards set up, and 152,400 yuan in participation fees was collected.
The local market supervision department, based on the "Regulations on Optimizing the Business Environment" and the "Interim Provisions on the Management of Appraisal, Evaluation, and Commendation Activities of Social Organizations," ordered the correction of the illegal act and the return of the illegally charged fees. As of October 18, 2021, all 152,400 yuan had been returned.
Illegally charging through professional qualification certification
The case of a certain consulting association in Guangdong Province illegally conducting appraisal, evaluation, and charging for qualification certification.
From January 2018 to June 2020, a certain consulting association in Guangdong Province, without approval, carried out the "Top 50 in a Certain Industry in Guangdong Province" appraisal and commendation activity and the "Qualification Grade Review and Annual Inspection of a Certain Consulting and Training Institution in Guangdong Province" work. It illegally charged 234,900 yuan by means of charging "conference fees," "annual review fees," and "annual inspection fees."
The Department of Civil Affairs of Guangdong Province, in accordance with the "Regulations on the Registration and Management of Social Groups" and the "Interim Provisions on the Management of Appraisal, Evaluation, and Commendation Activities of Social Organizations," imposed administrative penalties on this association, including suspending its activities for three months, confiscating the illegally charged fees, and ordering the replacement of the directly responsible person in charge.
Forcing or inducing member units to participate in various paid activities such as conferences, trainings, examinations, exhibitions, appraisals, selections, and overseas inspections
Since December 2017, a certain industry association has carried out the training and examination work for traffic safety officers in Shanghai. It stipulated that if the student units did not complete 16 hours of training, they could not take the exam and thus could not obtain the "Safety Officer Certificate." This certificate was a pre - condition for enterprises to apply for business licenses. At the same time, the association signed an agreement with a consulting company. The consulting company charged 500 yuan per person in training fees from the student units. The two parties agreed to divide the remaining profits after deducting the venue and personnel costs required for the training. In more than two years, the association carried out a total of 16 training sessions and made a profit of 205,000 yuan.
The Huangpu District Market Supervision Bureau determined that the industry association's act of charging training fees constituted an unfair pricing behavior. It ordered the industry association to correct the illegal act, and at the same time, confiscated the unreturned illegal income of 205,095 yuan and imposed a fine of 205,095 yuan.
The membership fee standard is not formulated or revised in accordance with the prescribed procedures
A certain association in Shenzhen passed the "Measures for the Collection Standard and Management of Membership Fees of a Certain Association in Shenzhen" at the council meeting and then immediately sent a notice of payment of the new membership fee standard to each member unit. After being reported, the Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Civil Affairs immediately intervened in the investigation and handled it in accordance with the law.
The charging standards for business service items with market - adjusted prices are unreasonable
The charging standard for the safety management evaluation of pressure - bearing equipment systems publicly announced by the China Special Equipment Safety and Energy Conservation Promotion Association already included travel expenses. After the association charged the safety management evaluation fee according to the publicly announced standard, it additionally charged enterprises for travel expenses. From January 2018 to September 2020, a total of 770,900 yuan was collected, which violated Article 19 of the "Regulations on Marking Prices for Commodities and Services" (Decree No. 8 of the State Development Planning Commission of the People's Republic of China): "Business operators shall not sell commodities at a price higher than the marked price, and shall not charge any unmarked fees."
Charging unmarked fees
The market supervision department in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region corrected the case of the Xinjiang Institute of Civil Engineering and Architecture charging unmarked fees.
The party organized two training courses on the publicity and implementation of relevant technical standards in June 2020 and April 2021, respectively. By examining the training notices and fee receipts, it was found that the institute notified a 2 - day training, actually conducted a 2 - day training, but charged training fees according to the standard of a 3 - day training, with an illegal amount of 181,300 yuan. In June 2020, in addition to charging training fees, the institute also charged 150 yuan per person for materials fees, and the materials fees were not publicly announced for charging, with an illegal amount of 25,000 yuan.
The local market supervision department, based on the "Price Law" and the "Notice of the General Office of the State Council on Further Standardizing the Charging of Industry Associations and Chambers of Commerce," ordered the association to correct the illegal act and return 206,300 yuan of the illegally charged fees within a time limit.
Using branches (representative offices) to charge membership fees in multiple ways.
Absorbing members and charging membership fees by means of "commission - based charging."
Forcing market entities to provide sponsorships, donations, or subscribe to relevant products or publications.
Charging or covertly charging management fees or sponsorship fees in the name of establishing branches or representative offices.
Charging members, in addition to membership fees, other fees in the name of serving as directors, standing directors, or responsible persons.
The charging standards for business service items with certain monopolistic and mandatory nature are not formulated or revised in accordance with the procedures stipulated in the "Notice of the General Office of the State Council on Further Standardizing the Charging of Industry Associations and Chambers of Commerce" (Guobanfa [2020] No. 21).
Charges are not managed and accounted for in the organization's legal account, and charges are transferred to the enterprises it runs or affiliated enterprises.
When industry associations and chambers of commerce run economic entities, they should pay attention to separating in terms of assets, institutions, and personnel from the economic entities they run. When there are economic exchanges with the economic entities they run, they should charge prices and pay fees in accordance with the principle of equivalent exchange.
IV. External Supervision Mechanisms
The dishonesty blacklist management system for industry associations and chambers of commerce.
Record the illegal charging behaviors of industry associations and chambers of commerce in their credit files, and also record them in the personal credit records of their main responsible persons and directly responsible persons. Establish a blacklist of illegal charging behaviors of industry associations and chambers of commerce, and the relevant information shall be incorporated into the national credit information sharing platform led by the National Development and Reform Commission. Promote cross - regional, cross - departmental, and cross - industry collaborative supervision, carry out joint disciplinary actions against dishonesty, and impose restrictions on government procurement of services, annual inspections, and evaluations for awards, etc. Further increase the benefits of keeping trust for industry associations and chambers of commerce, increase the cost of dishonesty, and form a correct orientation of being reluctant to be dishonest, unable to be dishonest, afraid to be dishonest, and consciously keeping trust.
Give play to the guiding and supervisory role of third - party evaluations.
Revise the evaluation standards for industry associations and chambers of commerce, incorporate situations such as the formulation procedures of charging standards, the setting of membership fee levels, charging by branches, and the publicity of charging information into the evaluation index system, and give full play to the guiding and supervisory role of third - party evaluations on the charging behaviors of industry associations and chambers of commerce. Strengthen information disclosure, promptly release the evaluation grade results of industry associations and chambers of commerce, and accept social supervision.
Increase the intensity of investigating and dealing with illegal charging behaviors of industry associations and chambers of commerce.
Improve the comprehensive supervision system for the charging behaviors of social organizations such as industry associations and chambers of commerce, and strengthen supervision during and after the event. The civil affairs department should conduct strict supervision, management, and law enforcement inspections in accordance with relevant registration management regulations. Audit institutions shall conduct audit supervision on industry associations and chambers of commerce in accordance with the law. The price and finance departments shall strengthen supervision over the charging and pricing behaviors of industry associations and chambers of commerce in accordance with their respective responsibilities. The human resources and social security department shall strengthen supervision over the licensing and certification behaviors of industry associations and chambers of commerce in carrying out professional qualifications. Each industry management department shall provide necessary policy guidance on the charging and service behaviors of industry associations and chambers of commerce according to its functions and fulfill relevant supervision responsibilities. Investigate and deal with the illegal charging behaviors of industry associations and chambers of commerce severely and realistically. Once discovered, they shall be investigated, dealt with, and exposed. The competent business unit or relevant department shall hold their main responsible persons and directly responsible persons accountable in accordance with discipline and regulations. If the circumstances are serious, they shall be ordered to be replaced.
V. Construction of Compliance Charging for Industry Associations and Chambers of Commerce
Establish an internal problem - feedback mechanism.
Publicize the charging items, charging nature, service content, charging standards, and basis of the association or chamber of commerce in prominent positions at the residence, service site, as well as on the portal website, WeChat official account, etc., to facilitate the public to obtain or understand. Establish a problem - feedback mechanism and seriously carry out self - inspection and self - correction of the charging problems reflected by members.
Establish an external publicity system.
In accordance with the requirements of the National Development and Reform Commission for organizing and carrying out centralized publicity of charging information, rely on the "Industry Association and Chamber of Commerce Charging Information Publicity System" on the "Credit China" website, which is guided by the National Development and Reform Commission and the People's Bank of China and hosted by the National Information Center. Centralize and regularly update the publicity of charging items, charging nature, service content, charging standards, and basis, and establish a long - term mechanism for the active disclosure of charging information. The publicity information shall be subject to social supervision and shall be used as an important reference basis for price supervision and inspection agencies to carry out inspections of illegal charging by industry associations and chambers of commerce.
Adhere to the principles of openness and voluntariness.
Fully guarantee the right of service recipients to know about charging. Before charging, the obligation to inform shall be fulfilled. No additional fees shall be charged for services beyond the marked fees, no unmarked fees shall be charged, and no false or misleading price means shall be used to deceive service recipients into conducting transactions.
Standardize the behavior of developing members.
Adhere to the principles of voluntary membership and free withdrawal. Strengthen the classified statistics and dynamic management of the composition of members, optimize the membership structure, and further improve the pertinence and effectiveness of services.
Establish a sound financial management system to ensure openness and transparency.
Announce the revenue and expenditure of membership fees to members every year, regularly accept the review of the general meeting of members or the representative meeting of members, and fill in the membership fee income situation during the annual inspection of industry associations and chambers of commerce.
Establish a system of integrity commitments and self - discipline conventions for industry associations and chambers of commerce.
Industry associations and chambers of commerce shall publicly disclose integrity commitment letters to the society, mainly making commitments on service content, service methods, service recipients, and charging standards. Industry associations and chambers of commerce should adapt to the development trends and requirements of the industry, formulate self - discipline conventions in accordance with the principles of honesty, trustworthiness, and fair competition, widely solicit opinions from member enterprises, industry management departments, etc., and implement them after being voted and passed by the general meeting of members or the representative meeting of members.
Although the above content focuses on industry associations and chambers of commerce, the charging behaviors of social groups registered with the civil affairs department can also be referred to.
Compliance charging is not only a compliance with laws and regulations but also a practice of industry responsibilities and social trust, and it is the cornerstone of the steady development of industry associations and chambers of commerce. An industry association or chamber of commerce that abides by the rules and operates with integrity can attract more high - quality members to join, form a virtuous
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