Guangzhou City Fully Promotes the Model Text for Laundry Service Contracts

On March 28, to earnestly implement Guangzhou's "Two Constructions" work deployment, promote and popularize the use of the "Guangzhou Garment Washing Service Contract" and the "Guangzhou Workwear Uniform and Linen Washing Service Contract" model texts, actively guide laundry and washing service operators to operate with integrity and compete fairly, advocate laundry and washing enterprises to participate in the "Honoring Contracts and Keeping Credit" activity, promote the construction of the social credit system and market supervision system, and establish a long-term mechanism for fair and honest market competition in laundry and washing services, the Guangzhou Administration for Industry and Commerce and the Guangzhou Laundry and Washing Industry Association jointly held a promotion meeting for the model texts of the "Guangzhou Garment Washing Service Contract" and the "Guangzhou Workwear Uniform and Linen Washing Service Contract".
Contracts are the most basic form and the most important carrier of market transactions. Many market transaction order problems often originate from hidden risks left during contract formation. Regulating and guiding contract formation behavior is an effective way to regulate market transaction order from the source. Model contract texts play a very positive role in standardizing the contract signing behavior of parties, protecting the legitimate rights and interests of parties, correcting unfair contract terms, and avoiding or reducing contract fraud and disputes. The formulation and promotion of model contract texts is an important work to regulate market transaction order and promote social credit construction. Over the years, the Guangzhou Administration for Industry and Commerce has actively formulated and promoted a batch of model contract texts based on the characteristics of different industries, achieving good social benefits. With the development of Guangzhou's economy, the market continuously needs various model contract texts, and the industry and commerce department will successively launch more model contract texts related to livelihood industries according to social needs.
The laundry and washing industry is an important livelihood service industry and an indispensable part of the modern service industry. It is closely related to people's lives. With the development of the social economy and the continuous improvement of people's living standards, the development of the laundry and washing industry has become increasingly important. Guangzhou's laundry and washing services have also entered a stage of rapid development and show diversified development trends. Today, laundry and washing services have become a rigid demand for more and more families, and their existence is directly related to the harmonious life of thousands of households. According to incomplete statistics from the industry and commerce department, the number of laundry shops, dry cleaners, and laundry and washing service companies in Guangzhou has reached 1,095. Including enterprises and individual businesses with laundry, dry cleaning, and garment washing services within their business license scope, the total number reaches 2,309.
Over the more than 30 years since the reform and opening up, China's washing industry has developed rapidly, playing an important role in expanding employment, serving people's livelihood, improving quality of life, and promoting economic growth. However, during its rapid development, due to the lack of standardized industry standards, operators act independently, overly emphasizing their own interests while neglecting the legitimate rights and interests of the vast majority of consumers, which to some extent restricts the healthy development of the laundry and washing industry. This situation urgently needs to be regulated. For example, for a long time, operators have formulated various washing service contracts due to lack of legal awareness and profit orientation, and these standard contracts lack guidance and supervision from government departments and industry associations, resulting in frequent washing disputes between customers and operators. The root cause is the irregularity of washing service contracts and the incompleteness and unfairness of contract terms, which are important reasons for disputes. Therefore, formulating standardized laundry and washing service contracts to reduce service disputes between customers and operators is particularly important. To regulate the business behavior of Guangzhou's laundry and washing services, advocate industry self-discipline, improve operators' service levels, and create a healthy and orderly market competition environment, the Municipal Administration for Industry and Commerce and the Municipal Laundry and Washing Industry Association, based on industry characteristics, formulated model texts such as the "Guangzhou Garment Washing Service Contract" and the "Guangzhou Workwear Uniform and Linen Washing Service Contract." The model texts will be gradually promoted and used throughout Guangzhou starting from March 28, 2013. They will play a positive and important role in regulating the business behavior of Guangzhou's laundry and washing services and guiding laundry and washing enterprises to operate with integrity. They have profound significance for safeguarding the legitimate rights and obligations of consumers and operators and for the healthy development of Guangzhou's laundry and washing service industry.
The contract model texts promoted this time have the following main features:
1. The concepts of "negotiated washing" and "non-negotiated washing" are introduced in the contract model texts. When customers send clothes for washing, they can choose negotiated washing service or non-negotiated washing service. For general clothes, customers can choose non-negotiated washing service, and operators charge washing fees according to the non-negotiated service standards. For valuable clothes or clothes with special commemorative significance, customers can choose negotiated washing service, where the operator and customer appraise and confirm the clothes, and both parties negotiate the washing fee within 10% to 20% of the clothes' appraisal value based on the difficulty and risk of washing. If the clothes are lost, the operator compensates according to the appraisal value. This allows customers to have choices when they need washing services and to receive the washing service they require.
2. The scope of compensation for quality problems or loss of clothes after washing is clarified. According to the "Guangzhou Laundry and Washing Consumer Dispute Resolution Measures" jointly issued by the Guangzhou Consumer Council and the Guangzhou Laundry and Washing Industry Association on July 19, 2012, the contract model texts clarify the compensation responsibilities that operators should bear when quality problems or loss occur after washing. 2

compensation responsibilities. For non-negotiated washing services, if quality problems or loss of clothes occur after washing, the operator should compensate 1 to 20 times the washing fee. This facilitates quick and convenient resolution of compensation issues, is highly operable, and saves time for both parties.
3. The breach of contract liabilities for operators and customers who do not pick up washed clothes on time are clarified. The contract model texts stipulate that if the operator delays delivery of clothes, a penalty of 2 yuan per item per day must be paid to the customer; if the customer delays picking up clothes for more than 15 days, a storage fee will be charged starting from the 16th day, and if the customer does not pick up the clothes within 90 days, the clothes will be handled by the operator. Such provisions mean that operators must bear penalties for delayed delivery, and customers must bear storage fees for delayed pickup. However, from a fair and reasonable perspective, the model texts guarantee customers a 15-day free storage period to avoid customers bearing responsibility due to other matters delaying pickup. It also stipulates that operators start charging storage fees after 15 days, and clothes will be handled by operators after 90 days, essentially preventing customers from treating laundry shops as free storage and avoiding inconvenience caused by accumulated clothes to operators' business.
4. It is clarified that the Guangzhou Laundry and Washing Industry Association is also a mediation body for laundry and washing service disputes. In addition to the Guangzhou Consumer Council, the contract model texts also designate the Municipal Laundry and Washing Industry Association as a mediation body for contract disputes. This aims to leverage the industry association's credibility and authority within the industry, as well as its familiarity and professional expertise, to promptly and efficiently resolve disputes between operators and customers, saving time and effort for both parties and reflecting the industry association's advantage in resolving contract disputes within the industry.
5. Introduce the "Guangzhou Laundry and Washing Industry Consumer Dispute Resolution Measures" in dispute resolution. The contract sample text stipulates that if disputes arise between customers and operators, both parties may negotiate and resolve them based on the "Consumer Rights Protection Law of the People's Republic of China" and the "Guangzhou Laundry and Washing Industry Consumer Dispute Resolution Measures." Since its release last year, this dispute resolution measure has played an active role in resolving consumer disputes. The industry association guides operators to take compensation responsibility for problems occurring after laundry services in the quickest way, saving time for both customers and operators, protecting the legitimate rights and interests of both parties, and reducing the waste of judicial resources.
Relevant municipal government departments attach great importance to this contract sample text release and promotion meeting. Leaders from the Guangzhou Administration for Industry and Commerce, Guangzhou Economic and Trade Commission, and Guangzhou Consumer Council attended the meeting. The meeting fully affirmed the importance and fairness of the contract sample text, as well as the positive significance of promoting its use in actively carrying out the "Two Constructions" work, advocating honest operation, and promoting the social credit system. It called on the majority of laundry and washing industry operators to actively use the laundry and washing service contract sample text. The promotion meeting attracted about 70 representatives from laundry and washing enterprises, who expressed their support for promoting the use of the "Guangzhou Laundry and Washing Service Contract" and the "Guangzhou Workwear Uniform and Linen Washing Service Contract" sample texts. Representatives of the Guangzhou Laundry and Washing Industry Association also read out the "Abide by Contracts and Value Credit" initiative to build a social credit system at the promotion meeting, issuing an honest operation proposal to all laundry and washing service enterprises in Guangzhou.

March 28, 2013