Legal Liabilities for Price-jacking During the Pandemic
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问：疫情防控期间，部分经营者趁机涨价，是否构成哄抬价格违法行为？
Q：During the prevention and control period, some merchants take the opportunity to raise prices, does it constitutes an illegal act of jacking up prices?
答：在疫情防控期间，部分经营者对人民群众维持基本生活所必需的粮油肉蛋菜奶等民生商品，与抗击疫情关系最为密切的口罩、抗病毒药品、消毒杀菌用品、相关医疗器械等防疫用品，以及生产上述商品所需的相关原辅材料等，趁机涨价，不仅严重扰乱了市场秩序，损害了消费者的合法权益，还制造或加剧了恐慌性需求，破坏社会秩序，严重影响疫情防控工作平稳开展。
A：During the pandemic prevention and control period, some merchants took the opportunity to raise prices on grain, oil, meat, eggs, vegetables, milk and other goods necessary for people’s basic livelihood, on masks, antiviral drugs, disinfection and sterilization supplies, medical equipment and other pandemic prevention supplies which are most closely related to the fight against the pandemic and on raw and auxiliary materials required for the production of the above products. Such behaviors not only seriously disrupted the market order and harmed the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, but also created or intensified the panic demand and damaged the social order, which seriously affected the smooth development of pandemic prevention and control management.
经营者有下列情形之一的，构成《中华人民共和国价格法》第十四条规定的哄抬价格行为：（一）捏造、散布涨价信息，大幅度提高价格的；（二）生产成本或进货成本没有发生明显变化，以牟取暴利为目的，大幅度提高价格的；（三）在一些地区或行业率先大幅度提高价格的；（四）囤积居奇，导致商品供不应求而出现价格大幅度上涨的；（五）利用其他手段哄抬价格，推动商品价格过快、过高上涨的。
An operator constitutes the act of price-jacking under Article 14 of the Price Law of the People's Republic of China if such operator: (i) fabricates, spread information on price increases, or sharply raises the price; (ii) sharply raises the price for the purpose of seeking exorbitant profits while the production cost or purchase cost has not changed obviously; (iii) takes the lead in raising the price to a large extent in some regions or industries; (iv) hoards for profiteering result in the short supply of commodities and thus the price goes up sharply; and (v) jacks up prices by other means and causes the commodity prices to go up too fast or too high.
问：哄抬价格违法行为应当承担什么法律责任？
Q：What are the legal liabilities for the act of price-jacking?
答：1、行政责任。依据《价格法》《价格违法行为行政处罚规定》等有关规定，对哄抬价格，推动商品价格过快、过高上涨的违法行为，由市场监管部门责令改正，没收违法所得，并处违法所得5倍以下的罚款；没有违法所得的，处5万元以上50万元以下的罚款，情节较重的处50万元以上300万元以下的罚款；情节严重的，责令停业整顿，或者吊销营业执照。
A：1. Administrative liabilities. According to the Price Law of the People's Republic of China, the Provisions on Administrative Sanctions Against Price-related Illegal Activities and other relevant provisions, for any illegal act of jacking up prices, promoting an excessively rapid or high increase in commodity prices, the market regulatory authorities shall order the offender to make correction, confiscate illegal income and impose a fine of no more than five times the amount of illegal income; where there is no illegal income, a fine ranging from RMB 50,000 to RM B500,000 shall be imposed, and where the case is relatively serious, a fine ranging from RMB 500,000 to RMB 3,000,000 shall be imposed; where the case is serious, it shall be ordered to suspend business for rectification or its business license shall be revoked.
2、刑事责任。根据最高人民法院、最高人民检察院、公安部、司法部印发的《关于依法惩治妨害新型冠状病毒感染肺炎疫情防控违法犯罪的意见》（法发〔2020〕7号），在疫情防控期间，违反国家有关市场经营、价格管理等规定，囤积居奇，哄抬疫情防控急需的口罩、护目镜、防护服、消毒液等防护用品、药品或者其他涉及民生的物品价格，牟取暴利，违法所得数额较大或者有其他严重情节，严重扰乱市场秩序的，以非法经营罪定罪处罚，处五年以下有期徒刑或者拘役，并处或者单处违法所得一倍以上五倍以下罚金；情节特别严重的，处五年以上有期徒刑，并处违法所得一倍以上五倍以下罚金或者没收财产。
2. Criminal liability. According to the Circular of the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Justice on Issuing the Opinions on Legally Punishing Illegal and Criminal Acts Interfering with Prevention and Control of the New Coronavirus Pneumonia Pandemic (Fa Fa [2020] No. 7), during the prevention and control period, whoever hoards and speculates, jacks up the prices of masks, protective goggles, protective suits, disinfectants and other protective products, drugs and other articles relating to people's livelihood that are urgently needed in the prevention and control in violation of the relevant national provisions on market operation, price management, etc. to seek exorbitant profits, and the amount of illegal gains is relatively large or there are other serious circumstances which seriously disrupt market order, shall be convicted and punished for the crime of illegal business operation, and shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of no more than five years or criminal detention, and shall also, or shall only, be fined no less than one time but no more than five times the illegal gains; where the case is especially serious, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of no less than five years, and shall also be fined no less than one time but no more than five times the illegal gains or be sentenced to confiscation of property.