The Market Supervision Administration of Sichuan Province has issued a public notice offering monetary rewards for tips leading to the exposure of serious illegal activities in key market supervision areas, with the maximum reward reaching 1 million yuan.
This initiative is a significant measure by the provincial market regulator to deepen the crackdown on misconduct and corruption affecting the public within its jurisdiction. It specifically targets pressing issues that concern the public, such as online food delivery safety, false advertising, and pricing violations, aiming to effectively uphold fair market competition and protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers.
Key Areas for Tip-Offs
The scope of the reportable violations includes, but is not limited to, the following areas:
In the realm of online food delivery safety: Violations such as "ghost kitchens" operating without proper oversight, falsification of health certificates, fraudulent business licenses, operating beyond permitted scope, and failures by platform providers in management, leading to accountability gaps.
In the production and sale of counterfeit or substandard meat products: Issues including the procurement, storage, use, or sale of meat products of unknown origin, without proper inspection and quarantine, or that have failed inspection; the practice of passing off meat from other livestock as beef, mutton, or donkey meat; false labeling; and the illegal addition of non-edible substances or the misuse of additives.
Regarding "school meals": Lax controls in critical areas such as canteen staff management, control of food ingredients, food preparation processes, cleaning and maintenance of premises and equipment, and dishwashing and sanitization; failures in implementing food safety responsibilities within the supply chain; and issues where the transportation, storage, and acceptance of ingredients occur outside proper supervision.
In elderly care services: Violations concerning the staffing and performance of food safety managers in nursing home canteens, food business licensing, ingredient control, production process control, environmental hygiene, and food sample retention; practices in private livestreams or wellness clubs that, under the guise of "family care," "wellness lectures," or "health consultations," exaggerate the efficacy of ordinary goods or services to sell pseudo-high-tech products, wellness therapy products, or health supplements to the elderly; and disguised advertising for drugs or health foods in the form of health or wellness knowledge dissemination.
Concerning gas installation and use: Illegally charging fees for items unrelated to gas engineering installation within the building's red line or already included in project costs; incomplete disclosure of fee standards and scope; forced bundling and induced consumption; using standard terms to exempt one's own liability; gas companies restricting design, construction, or supervision of gas installation projects to themselves or related parties; specifying equipment and material suppliers; producing and selling unqualified gas appliances and accessories; and issues with gas meters such as incorrect or missed readings, irregular billing cycles, and failure to implement tiered pricing as per contract.
In property services and special equipment: Inadequate safety management and maintenance of residential elevators, failure to conduct regular inspections, issuance of false inspection reports for elevators, and the use of boilers with mismatched capacity labels or illegal filling operations.
Regarding medical insurance fund management: Pricing violations by medical institutions, such as overcharging, duplicate charging, or split charging for medical services, consumables, and examinations.
In the funeral services sector: Failure by funeral service providers to properly implement惠民 policies like fee reductions for basic services or subsidies for eco-friendly burials; incomplete, inaccurate, or non-compliant online and offline public disclosure of funeral service charges; and pricing violations like not clearly marking prices, not following government-set or guided prices, and forced bundling.
Concerning the subscription of teaching aids and purchase of school uniforms: Illegal acts like tie-in sales and bundling, inflated prices, arbitrary surcharges, and failure to issue invoices; as well as issues with school uniforms such as substandard quality, forged manufacturer information, collusion to raise prices, price fraud, and forced bundling.
In the tourism industry, regarding guide misconduct and forced consumption: False or exaggerated advertising about hotel star ratings or class, price fraud, luring consumers with low prices and then failing to provide corresponding services, and other deceptive advertising and commercial bribery practices that infringe on consumer rights.
Other significant illegal acts within the market supervision domain.
The deadline for submitting tips under this initiative is the end of December 2026. Specific channels for reporting can be found on the official website of the provincial Market Supervision Administration.
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