Guangdong Consumer Committee filed a civil consumer public interest lawsuit on behalf of consumers in Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court on August 18 on the issue that height is the standard of preferential tickets for minors in many places of Guangzhou Changlong Group. The Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court accepted the case on that day.
According to reports, this case is the first public interest lawsuit for the protection of minors'consumption rights and interests in China. Guangdong Consumer Committee requests the court to order the defendant to stop excluding and restricting the infringement of the rights of non-specific majority of minor consumers by height; to give all minor consumers due benefits in an appropriate and effective manner according to law; and to apologize publicly for the infringement on the important pages of the mainstream media.
Since August 2018, Guangdong Consumer Committee has launched a special survey on the issue of the height standard of minors'preferential tickets. It has been found that there are some problems in the fare standard of minors in Changlong Happy World, Changlong Wildlife World, Changlong Water Paradise and Bird Paradise, which are subordinate to Guangzhou Changlong Group. Moreover, Changlong International Circus Park refuses to divide all the minors into height standards. Consumers offer preferential fares in 2000.
According to the provisions of Civil Procedure Law, Consumer Rights Protection Law, Minor Protection Law, Tourism Law and Price Law, all minors (citizens under 18 years of age) have the right to enjoy fare preferences equally in places such as zoos, parks and participating in tourism activities, and should not be affected by height. If some playgrounds, parks and other places restrict teenagers whose stature exceeds the standard to enjoy preferential fares in the form of format clauses and unilateral provisions, it is tantamount to disguising "punishing tall people". It is unfair to teenagers who grow tall and fast, and infringes on the legitimate rights and interests of these consumers.
On September 30, 2018, the Consumer Committee of Guangdong Province interviewed Changlong Group and put forward the requirement of age as a preferential standard. However, Changlong Group adheres to the preferential standard of height on the grounds of unclear laws and regulations and the usual practice in the same industry in China. The Consumer Committee of Guangdong Province has decided to institute civil public interest litigation in accordance with the law.
The Guangdong Consumer Committee said that although the case took Guangzhou Changlong Group as the object of litigation, the starting point was to promote the rectification of the long-standing and widespread practices that infringe on the legitimate rights and interests of minor consumers, create a safe and secure consumption environment and a good business environment, and promote the formation of a good social atmosphere to protect the legitimate rights and interests of minors.