Legal provisions on unconditional refund of epidemic situation

For some consumers' requests for full refund and non-destructive cancellation to tourism enterprises, tourism enterprises such as OTA platform should make their own decisions according to the relevant provisions of the Civil Law and the Tourism Law, combined with the notices issued by the Supreme People's Court, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

There have been many outbreaks in China recently. Under the new situation of epidemic prevention and control, although some consumers' regions and destinations are not high-risk areas, they have cancelled their established travel plans for safety reasons. Some consumers found in the negotiations with travel companies such as OTA platform that some travel companies did not take full refund and lossless unsubscribe, but deducted some money. In this regard, some consumers have disputes with travel companies such as OTA platforms. Whether tourism enterprises such as OTA platform should take full refund and lossless cancellation measures is directly related to the legitimate rights and interests of tourists and the healthy development of tourism.

It is understood that at present, the focus of disputes among all parties mainly focuses on the determination of force majeure and the application of non-destructive termination. Specifically, some consumers think that they can't travel, and the reason for canceling travel orders is the epidemic situation, which is force majeure. They should not take any responsibility for the cancellation of the trip. Travel companies such as OTA platform should refund without loss and should not deduct related expenses.

What should be done about consumers' demands? Although tourism enterprises such as OTA platform can understand it, it is difficult to support it. Under the epidemic situation, tourism enterprises have implemented lossless cancellation and full refund to consumers, which actually exceeds the provisions of the current law on liability in case of force majeure, and enterprises have shared the economic losses that should not be borne by consumers.

Article 67 of the Tourism Law stipulates that if the travel itinerary is affected by force majeure or unavoidable events after the travel agency and the performance assisting agent have fulfilled their duty of reasonable care, and the tourists request to cancel the contract, the package travel agency shall return the balance to the tourists after deducting the non-refundable fees paid to the ground agency or the performance assisting agent. Accordingly, in the case that tourists in high-risk areas are unable to travel during the epidemic period and request to cancel the contract, the money returned to consumers by tourism enterprises such as OTA platforms, travel agencies, scenic spots and hotels should be the balance after deducting the non-refundable fees paid to local agencies or performance assistants, not the whole money.

In 2020, due to the epidemic prevention and control, the entire tourism industry will suffer huge economic losses and great economic pressure. OTA platform, travel agencies, scenic spots, hotels and other tourism enterprises actively responded to the call of the state, and actively implemented full refund and lossless refund, making their own contributions to coping with the epidemic risk with the government and society.

In 20021year, great achievements have been made in domestic epidemic prevention and control, but the epidemic situation in some areas is still severe and complicated, and the development of tourism enterprises is facing a difficult situation. In this context, some consumers in non-medium-high-risk areas cancel their travel plans for their own reasons, and require tourism enterprises such as OTA platform to implement full refund and lossless cancellation, which is unfair to tourism enterprises that have suffered heavy economic losses and will continue to bear economic pressure in the future, and is beyond the economic affordability of most tourism enterprises.

To sum up, some consumers' requests for full refund and non-destructive cancellation to tourism enterprises should be decided by tourism enterprises such as OTA platform according to the relevant provisions of the Civil Code and the Tourism Law, combined with the notices issued by the Supreme People's Court, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. If you need more details, please consult the relevant departments.

Legal basis: The Notice on Properly Handling Disputes Related to Epidemic Travel Contracts in accordance with the Law generally does not regard the epidemic as force majeure, but requires that "the cultural and tourism departments, judicial administrative departments and people's courts should always take the law as the criterion, objectively, comprehensively and fairly identify the impact of the epidemic on tour operators and tourists in specific cases, and balance the interests of all parties on the basis of clarifying the nature of legal relations and the focus of disputes between the two parties to the contract. Give consideration to the protection of tourists' rights and interests and the development of cultural tourism industry, actively guide tour operators and tourists to negotiate and reconcile, understand each other, share risks, tide over difficulties together and properly resolve disputes. "