Alibaba's Taobao Tmall to Strengthen Crackdown on 'Inducing Third Parties' Violations

According to TapTechNews on June 26, Taobao Tmall (owned by Alibaba) released the 'Interpretation of Tmall's Rules on Inducing Third Parties', stating that it will strengthen the crackdown on 'inducing third parties' violations.

A 'inducing third parties' violation refers to publishing or pushingthird-party goods or information that may lead to transaction risks, or inducing consumers to jump tothird-party websites or clients through other means.

Starting from July, for merchants who violate the rules, Tmall will impose fines of $300 or $3000 depending on the circumstances, andmerchants with extremely serious circumstances (including three violations) will be expelled.

The official provided the following examples:

1. Pushing third-party platform information on the main product image, title, SKU, detailed description page, etc.

2. Posting third-party information on the store's home page.

3. Directly/implicitly mentioning WeChat or mobile phone numbers in Wangwang and guiding consumers to add WeChat or contact by phone.

4. Publishing other payment methods and inducing consumers to trade on third-party platforms.

5. Inserting third-party platform information in physical packages.

After July 1, penalties will be imposed on merchants with 'inducing third parties' violations according to the changed rules. TapTechNews attaches the specific penalties as follows:

General circumstances (first violation): penalty of $300.

Serious circumstances (second violation, large number of publications, multiple consumer complaints, etc.): penalty of $3000.

Extremely serious circumstances (third violation, with恶劣 means, intensive behavior, etc.): expulsion.