China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission Consumer Protection Bureau informed ICBC and other banking insurance institutions of their violations.

　　According to the website of China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, recently, the Consumer Protection Bureau of China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, China issued the No.7 circular in 2022, "Circular on Some Banking and Insurance Institutions Violating the Administrative Measures for Handling Consumer Complaints in Banking and Insurance Industry" (hereinafter referred to as the "Circular"), informing ICBC, China Everbright Bank and China Post Life that they violated the Administrative Measures for Handling Consumer Complaints in Banking and Insurance Industry (hereinafter referred to as the "Complaint Measures").

　　1. ICBC failed to reply to the complainant according to the Complaint Measures, and failed to announce the complaint channels and processes in a prominent position in official website.

　　After investigation, ICBC has repeatedly failed to make a decision on handling consumer complaints within the prescribed time limit and informed the complainant or failed to inform the complainant of the remedies available, which caused consumers’ dissatisfaction and reported to the regulatory authorities several times. The above acts violate Article 18 of the Complaint Measures. "Bank insurance institutions shall make a fair and just decision in accordance with relevant laws, regulations and contracts. For consumer complaints with clear facts and simple disputes, they shall make a decision within 15 days from the date of receiving the consumer complaint and inform the complainant. If the situation is complicated, it can be extended to 30 days; If the situation is particularly complicated or there are other special reasons, it may be extended for another 30 days upon the approval of its superior institution or the head office or the senior management of the head office and informing the complainant. Article 19 "When informing the complainant of the decision, the bank insurance institution shall explain the verification of the contents of the consumer complaint, the relevant basis and reasons for making the decision, and the remedies that the complainant can take such as application verification, mediation, arbitration and litigation". At the same time, ICBC put its complaint channel information and complaint handling process in the sub-column of its official website, but did not publish it in a prominent position on the official website. ICBC’s official website is set with the column of "Consumer Rights Protection". After clicking on the page of this column, you need to click on the "Customer Complaint Guide" on the left. After opening the guide, you can view the complaint channels and complaint handling procedures of the bank.It can’t meet the needs of consumers’ complaints and rights protection, which will easily lead to the escalation of contradictions. This behavior violates Article 8 of the Complaints Measures, which stipulates that "banks and insurance institutions shall publish their own consumer complaint channel information and consumer complaint handling procedures such as complaint telephone number and mailing address in a conspicuous position on the official website, mobile client, business premises or office premises".

　　2. China Everbright Bank failed to count, report and disclose the complaint data according to the Complaints Measures, which violated the provisions of the Banking Supervision Law of the People’s Republic of China that banking financial institutions should strictly abide by the prudent operating rules.

　　After investigation, China Everbright Bank failed to conduct complaint statistics according to the requirements of the Complaints Measures, and some consumer disputes were not included in the complaint statistics, and the complaint data disclosed through the annual report and reported to the bank insurance supervision and management institution was far lower than the actual complaint volume. The above acts violate Article 2 of the Complaints Measures, that is, "Consumer complaints in the banking and insurance industry refer to the behavior that consumers have disputes with the banking and insurance institutions or their employees because they buy banking and insurance products or accept banking and insurance-related services, and claim their civil rights and interests from the banking and insurance institutions", and Article 26, "Banking and insurance institutions should establish a system of statistical analysis, traceability rectification, information disclosure and accountability for consumer complaints, regularly analyze complaints and rectify problems in a timely and effective manner; Disclosure of annual consumer complaints through annual reports and other means ",Article 36" Banking insurance institutions shall report their own consumer complaint data and handling work according to the requirements of the banking insurance supervision and management institutions, and be responsible for the authenticity, completeness and accuracy of the submitted data, documents and materials ". At the same time, the above acts violate the provisions of Article 21 of the Banking Supervision Law of the People’s Republic of China that "banking financial institutions shall strictly abide by prudent operating rules".

　　3. China Post Life did not count, report and disclose the complaint data according to the Complaints Measures, which violated the provisions of the Insurance Law of People’s Republic of China (PRC) that insurance companies must truthfully record insurance business matters when submitting relevant reports to insurance supervision and management institutions.

　　After the supervision of complaints, China Post Life Insurance found that the statistics, reports and disclosures of insurance consumer complaints in 2020 and 2021 did not meet the requirements of the Complaints Measures. In 2020, China Post Life Insurance did not include some consumer disputes in the complaint statistics, and the complaint data disclosed in the annual report and reported to the bank insurance supervision and management institution was far below the actual complaint volume. In 2021, China Post Life Insurance did not include some consumer disputes in the complaint statistics, and the data of consumer complaints reported to the bank insurance supervision and management institution was far below the actual number of complaints. The above acts violate the relevant provisions of Articles 2, 26 and 36 of the Complaint Measures. At the same time, the above-mentioned acts violate Article 86 of the Insurance Law of People’s Republic of China (PRC) "An insurance company shall submit relevant reports, statements, documents and materials in accordance with the provisions of the insurance supervision and administration institution. Insurance companies’ solvency reports, financial accounting reports, actuarial reports, compliance reports and other relevant reports, statements, documents and materials must truthfully record insurance business matters, and there shall be no false records, misleading statements or major omissions.

　　The Circular pointed out that it is inconvenient for consumers to complain about rights protection, which affects the people’s sense of gain, and is not conducive to the traceability and rectification of bank insurance institutions, further strengthening and improving services, and protecting consumers’ legitimate rights and interests. The Circular requires all banks and insurance institutions to take a warning, draw inferences from others, conscientiously implement laws, regulations and regulatory requirements on consumer protection, such as the Guiding Opinions of the General Office of the State Council on Strengthening the Protection of Financial Consumers’ Rights and Interests, the Guiding Opinions of China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, China on Strengthening the System and Mechanism Construction of Consumer Protection by Banking and Insurance Institutions, and the Administrative Measures for Handling Consumer Complaints in Banking and Insurance Industry, implement the main responsibility of consumer protection, improve the complaint handling system, smooth complaint channels, standardize complaint handling and properly resolve contradictions and disputes.