Businesses that refuse to accept a consumer's request for negotiation, or fail to negotiate within 7 working days of receiving the request, will be subject to a fine of 1-5 million VND.

Failure to issue a warranty certificate will result in a fine of up to 100 million VND.

Government Decree No. 124/2015/ND-CP, issued by the Prime Minister, provides guidance as follows, allowing the application from 2016 of regulations amending and supplementing Decree No. 185/2013/ND-CP on administrative sanctions for violations in the fields of commercial activities, production, trading of counterfeit and prohibited goods, and consumer protection. This regulation mandates that businesses selling goods must meet with and respond to all customer complaints, preventing the evasion of responsibility that occurred previously.

A noteworthy point in this Decree is that any business that fails to provide consumers with a warranty receipt clearly stating the warranty period will be fined from 5 to 100 million VND, depending on the value of the goods, components, and accessories required for warranty service.

According to experts, in the past, many consumers called or sent letters to businesses complaining about product quality after purchasing goods, but most businesses ignored them or deliberately avoided resolving the issues with various excuses. However, with the new regulations in this Decree, that will be less likely to happen, because if they do not resolve the issues, they will be fined according to the regulations.

In addition, businesses may also be subject to remedial measures such as: returning illegal profits obtained from the violation, or being forced to recall substandard goods. Furthermore, they may have their business license, business eligibility certificate, professional certificate revoked, or their operations suspended for a specified period in cases of repeated or multiple violations.

This illustrates the consumer complaint process.

Strengthening the field of consumer rights protection.

This decree introduces new regulations on administrative penalties in the field of consumer protection, including: violations related to the registration of standard contracts, general terms and conditions of transactions, and registration requirements with competent state management agencies for consumer protection. The penalty for this violation ranges from 30 to 50 million VND. Furthermore, the fine will double if the violation occurs in two provinces or centrally-governed cities.

The decree also clearly stipulates that businesses will be subject to warnings or fines ranging from VND 500,000 to VND 20,000,000, depending on the value of goods and services transacted, in the following cases: engaging in trade promotion activities or proposing direct transactions with individuals who lack or have lost their legal capacity; requiring or forcing consumers to pay for goods or services provided without prior agreement; exploiting consumers' difficult circumstances or taking advantage of natural disasters or epidemics to provide goods or services that do not meet quality standards.

According to Nguoitieudung