Mutual aid platforms repeatedly shut down, refunding balances as difficult as reaching the sky

📅 2022-09-29 📂 Zhiming Hot CommentsZhiming Hot Comments 🏷️ #慈善 #捐款 #Civil Code #轻松筹 #退款

Compiled from The Paper
 
近日,广东的张先生向澎湃新闻投诉,北京轻松筹网络科技有限公司(以下简称“轻松筹”)旗下网络互助平台轻松互助已经关停一年半,但他账户内的200元左右余额,至今未退还。

 

Case review

轻松互助是轻松筹于2016年4月上线的大病互助平台,以“一人患病,众人均摊”为原则,为患病会员提供服务。

最初,张先生只是自己注册成为轻松互助会员,后来发现花费金额不大,想给家人多一份保障,就将妻子、孩子、父母、弟弟和弟媳都添加了进去。因为年龄不同,他们参加的分别是老年大病互助行动、中青年大病互助行动和少儿大病互助行动。
 
张先生分别向他添加的亲人名下充值,用作均摊扣款。“如果里面没钱,一旦得大病,就无法申请互助金。”
 
值得注意的是,轻松互助的用户协议显示:“鉴于网络服务的特殊性,平台有权在无需通知您的情况下根据平台的整体情况或相关规范规则等,随时变更、中止或终止部分或全部的服务。您同意如本协议因为任何原因终止,对于您账号中的全部数据或您因使用平台服务而存储在本平台服务器中的数据等任何信息,平台可将该等信息保留或删除,包括服务终止前您尚未完成的数据。”
 
2021年初,陆续有大病互助平台宣布关停,其中就包括轻松互助。张先生介绍,轻松互助关停时,他和7名亲人名下还有300元左右余额(待均摊费)。他提供的截图显示,宣布关停五六天后,张先生收到轻松筹多笔退款,合计近百元,但始终未将余额全部退回。
 
Civil Code of the People's Republic of China

第四百九十六条
A standard-form clause is a clause that is prepared in advance by a party for repeated use and is not negotiated with the other party at the time of concluding the contract.
When a contract is concluded using standard-form clauses, the party providing the standard-form clauses shall determine the rights and obligations between the parties in accordance with the principle of fairness and shall take reasonable measures to draw the other party's attention to clauses that exempt or reduce the provider's liability or involve other significant interests of the other party, and shall explain such clauses upon the other party's request. If the party providing the standard-form clauses fails to fulfill the obligation to draw attention or provide explanation, causing the other party to fail to notice or understand clauses that significantly affect its interests, the other party may assert that such clauses are not part of the contract.
 
第四百九十七条
有下列情形之一的,该格式条款无效:
(一)具有本法第一编第六章第三节和本法第五百零六条规定的无效情形;
(二)提供格式条款一方不合理地免除或者减轻其责任、加重对方责任、限制对方主要权利;
(三)提供格式条款一方排除对方主要权利。

 

 
[1] The author's perspective

该用户协议中存在着大量预先拟定且非经协商的格式条款。在用户阅读和勾选时,平台方并没有尽到合理提示和说明义务。这些条款明显加重了申请人责任,同时还限制了申请人主要权利,应当属于无效条款。
 
前几年,类似轻松互助这类的网络筹款平台多如繁星,可不断地暴雷也让众多用户寒心。这些平台关停后,最让人关注的就是剩余互助金额如何退款的问题。平台应本着对每一位会员负责的态度及时公告相关信息,相应的监管部门也应加强监管力度,保护每一位捐赠者行使自己的合法权益,以不辜负每一份互助精神。

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