Shanghai Moves to Legislate: Couriers to Proactively Tell Recipients to Inspect Before Signing When Outer Packaging Is Clearly Damaged

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] In the future, if express items delivered by courier companies in Shanghai show abnormal conditions such as obvious damage to the outer packaging, the courier company must proactively inform the recipient to inspect the contents before signing for receipt. The Measures for the Implementation of the Postal Law of the People's Republic of China in Shanghai (Draft), submitted on the 7th to the Standing Committee of the Municipal People's Congress for deliberation, clearly stipulates that in the future, courier companies shall, during specific periods, announce their service commitments to the public in advance and inform the sender when accepting and collecting express items.

Shanghai plans legislation to clarify: express items with obvious damage to the outer packaging require proactively informing recipients to "inspect first, then sign"

In the future, if express items delivered by courier companies in Shanghai show abnormal conditions such as obvious damage to the outer packaging, the courier company must proactively inform the recipient to inspect the contents before signing for receipt. This is information revealed in the Measures for the Implementation of the Postal Law of the People's Republic of China in Shanghai (Draft), submitted on the 7th to the Standing Committee of the Municipal People's Congress for deliberation.

The reporter noted that the Draft Measures first clarifies that before accepting and collecting express items, courier companies shall remind senders to read the terms of the service contract and prompt senders to truthfully fill out the express waybill; for express items whose safety cannot be determined, the courier company has the right to require the sender to provide proof of the item's safety issued by relevant departments, and shall record in electronic data and written form information such as the name, specifications, quantity, weight, time of acceptance and collection, and the names, addresses, and contact details of the sender and recipient of the express item, and the retention period of the above records shall not be less than one year.

Once a courier company accepts an express item, the Draft Measures stipulate that the courier shall deliver the item to the recipient or to the location agreed upon by both parties within the agreed delivery time limit. It also clarifies that if the outer packaging of the express item is intact, the recipient may sign for it; if there are abnormal conditions such as obvious damage to the outer packaging, unless the courier company and the sender have otherwise agreed on acceptance inspection, the courier company shall inform the recipient to inspect the contents before signing for receipt.

The reporter also noted that the Draft Measures propose that government agencies, enterprises and institutions, and property service units of residential communities shall provide convenience for courier personnel to deliver express items face-to-face to recipients, and shall not charge any fees.

The Draft Measures clarify that if, due to the rules and regulations of government agencies, enterprises and institutions, or the management covenants of residential communities, courier personnel are unable to deliver express items face-to-face to recipients, the government agencies, enterprises and institutions, or the owners' committees of residential communities or their entrusted property service units shall set up locations for receiving express items, arrange personnel to properly keep the items, and hand them over promptly. (Li Xin)

Solving the problem of "slow express delivery" during holidays and promotions: service commitments must be clearly defined in advance during specific periods

For many people accustomed to online shopping, holidays or major merchant promotions are often times when the desire to buy is strong but they get "discouraged": because during such specific periods, the business volume of courier companies surges, often leading to problems such as "slow express delivery," and even a backlog and delay of express items. In response, the Measures for the Implementation of the Postal Law of the People's Republic of China in Shanghai (Draft), submitted on the 7th to the Standing Committee of the Municipal People's Congress for deliberation, clearly stipulates that in the future, courier companies shall, during specific periods, announce their service commitments to the public in advance and inform the sender when accepting and collecting express items.

"At present, in order to expand market share, some courier companies blindly take on business without regard to their own express item handling capacity, resulting in a backlog and delays of express items." Li Huide, director of the Municipal Postal Administration, told reporters that this situation is particularly evident during peak periods of express business volume such as the Spring Festival. "'Slow express delivery' is very common."

The reporter noted that in response to this hot social issue, the Draft Measures draws on feasible practices from some courier companies and correspondingly adds notification requirements for courier companies' business operations, thereby alleviating the contradiction between supply and demand in express services as much as possible.

The reporter noted that the Draft Measures first requires that courier companies shall, in a targeted manner and based on changes in express business volume during specific periods such as the Spring Festival, clearly define in advance their express service commitments for the specific period. "Such express service commitments shall be announced to the public in advance and communicated to the sender when accepting and collecting express items, so as to facilitate users in making preparations in advance and to gain users' understanding and support."

Meanwhile, the Measures (Draft) require that, under special circumstances such as commodity promotions that may cause a surge in express delivery volume, merchants conducting promotional activities shall consult with express delivery companies in advance on a shipment delivery plan, so as to facilitate the proper delivery of shipments; where an express delivery company needs to make corresponding changes to its express service commitments, it shall also announce such changes to the public in advance.

The reporter also noted that, where an express delivery company goes bankrupt, switches to other production, or ceases business, and stops express delivery operations without properly handling the shipments already collected, thereby causing a backlog and delays, the Measures (Draft) explicitly grant the Municipal Postal Administration the authority to carry out emergency handling, and require postal enterprises or other express delivery companies to obey the unified dispatch of the municipal postal administration department when handling incidents of sudden shipment backlog, and to deliver the backlogged shipments promptly.

— This article is reposted from China Packaging Network (pack.cn). Original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-362075.html