Economic Daily: Platform deposit regulation must not "pretend to be asleep."

Online consumption is the core scenario of the platform economy. In recent years, with the rapid development of the platform economy, online transaction behavior has gradually become standardized. However, prominent issues such as blurred boundaries of rights and responsibilities among entities, inadequate adaptation of competition rules, and insufficiently clear guidelines for legal operations have emerged, which have become pain points in protecting consumer rights in online consumption. If returning goods is easy but obtaining refunds is difficult, and seeking compensation is fraught with obstacles, how can consumers' rights be protected? According to the "Compliance Guidelines for Charging Behavior of Online Trading Platforms" issued in July 2025, if it is necessary to charge a security deposit from platform operators based on consumer rights protection, the platform should reasonably determine the standards and methods for collecting the deposit. It can be charged in a lump sum or gradually extracted based on a certain percentage of operating income until the full amount is reached. It is evident that the security deposit system not only constrains business behavior but also serves as a safeguard for consumer rights.