·Zhejiang insurance industry was fined 110 million anti-monopoly backlash "internal and external differences"

On September 2, the American Chamber of Commerce in China held a seminar on the theme of “Anti-monopoly Enforcement Procedures and Law Enforcement Practices for Industrial and Commercial Administrations.” Among the 164 member companies surveyed by the American Chamber of Commerce in China, 49% felt the recent anti-monopoly tide. It is aimed at foreign-funded enterprises. On the same day, the National Development and Reform Commission issued a 110 million yuan anti-monopoly ticket to the Zhejiang insurance industry, which effectively challenged the question.
According to the reporter's understanding, according to the report of the masses, the National Development and Reform Commission investigated the issue of the insurance industry in Zhejiang Province suspected of reaching a price monopoly agreement. It was found that the Zhejiang Provincial Insurance Industry Association organized 23 provincial property insurance companies to hold several meetings and negotiations, agreed on the new car discount coefficient, and agreed on a unified commercial auto insurance agency fee according to market share. These acts violated the relevant provisions of the Anti-Monopoly Law. .
Zhejiang Insurance Industry Association is the main planner and organizer of price monopolistic behavior in this case, and property insurance companies have less responsibility for illegal activities. Therefore, the National Development and Reform Commission has imposed a maximum fine of 500,000 yuan on the Zhejiang Insurance Industry Association, which is responsible for the main responsibility, and a fine of 1% of the above-mentioned commercial vehicle insurance sales for the first-year property insurance company with a secondary responsibility, totaling 1101.988 million. yuan.
Insurance Industry Anti-monopoly Maximum Penalty Development and Reform Commission released a message saying that since 2009, Zhejiang Insurance Industry Association organized 23 provincial property insurance companies to hold meetings and negotiations, agree on new car discount coefficient, and agree on a unified commercial auto insurance agency fee according to market share. .
On July 22, 2009, all property insurance companies in Zhejiang Province were organized, and the new car rate adjustment factor was not lower than 0.95. For the passenger cars with less than 9 seats in the previous year, the applicable rate adjustment factor is different according to the purchase price of the vehicle. If the purchase price is between 500,000 yuan and 1 million yuan, the rate adjustment factor shall not be lower than 0.9; the purchase price shall be 1 million yuan or more. The rate adjustment factor must not be less than 1.
On May 8, 2009, the company negotiated and agreed that the company's auto insurance market share of more than 4% in 2008 (People's Insurance, Pacific Insurance, Ping An, Cheonan, China United, Dadi, China Life Insurance) business auto insurance agent handling fee does not exceed 15%, the market The company with a share of less than 4% does not exceed 16%, and the balance company does not exceed 18%, and according to this, the "Zhejiang Motor Vehicle Insurance Industry Self-Regulation Convention Supplementary Agreement" (Zhejiang Insurance Association Secret [2009] No. 52) is issued. For each property insurance company; at the same time, the company shall impose a fine of 20,000 to 40,000 yuan per contract for the defaulting company, and deduct it from the self-discipline contract performance bond.
On May 5, 2010, it was agreed to adjust the handling fees of some companies, and implement different standards in six files: the first file is PICC, CPIC and Ping An, and the handling fee is 7%; the second file is China Life Insurance and China. Joint, the handling fee is 8%; the third file is sunshine, the handling fee is 9%; the fourth file is 10 insurance companies including Dadi, Cheonan and Volkswagen, and the handling fee is 10%; the fifth file is Ancheng, Anxin, Changan, and the procedures The fee is 11%; the sixth is Tianping, BOC, Bohai and Min'an, and the handling fee is 12%.
According to Article 13 of the Anti-Monopoly Law, an operator with a competitive relationship is prohibited from reaching a monopoly agreement of “fixed or changed price”. The NDRC believes that under normal circumstances, property and casualty companies compete with each other in terms of rates. The insured chooses property and casualty insurance companies with low quality and low price and pays premiums. The property and casualty insurance company fulfills its compensation obligations within the agreed insurance liability. The Zhejiang Insurance Industry Association organized the relevant companies to reach an agreement. The fixed insurance rate discount rate actually limits the price competition between property and casualty companies. The relevant behavior has violated the Anti-Monopoly Law and damaged the interests of the insured.
The reporter noted that the penalty involved a fine of up to 110 million yuan for property and casualty companies, which became the biggest penalty for anti-monopoly in the insurance industry. In the announcement of the National Development and Reform Commission yesterday, nine companies including Zhejiang Libao Insurance Co., Ltd. Zhejiang Branch, Japan Aihe Yi Risheng and Property Insurance Zhejiang Branch, Zheshang Property Insurance Zhejiang Branch, and Zijin Property Insurance Zhejiang Branch did not participate in the agreement. Implement a monopoly agreement and stop investigating it according to law.
China People's Property Insurance Zhejiang Branch, China Life Insurance Zhejiang Branch and China Ping An Property Insurance Zhejiang Branch, etc., have taken the initiative to report the relevant situation of the price monopoly agreement and provide important evidence to exempt or reduce the fine according to law.
The reporter inquired about the penalties of various companies and found that PICC P&C was free. The specific punishment results of some companies are: 15.949 million yuan for Ping An Insurance Zhejiang Branch, 20.7 million yuan for Taibao P&C Insurance Zhejiang Branch, 10.29 million yuan for China United Zhejiang Branch, 9.6 million yuan for Sunshine Insurance Zhejiang Branch, and Dadi Property Insurance Zhejiang branch company 9.55 million yuan and so on.
Industry associations were severely punished. In this incident, Zhejiang Insurance Industry Association was fined. The National Development and Reform Commission said that the Zhejiang Insurance Industry Association organized operators to reach a monopoly agreement, urged operators to implement monopoly agreements, and the exclusion of behaviors restricted market competition, violating Article 16 of the Anti-Monopoly Law and Article 9 of the Anti-Price Monopoly Regulations. Provisions.
The reporter noted that according to the relevant provisions of the Anti-Monopoly Law, "industry associations violated the provisions of this law", "a fine of less than 500,000 yuan", which means that the Zhejiang Provincial Insurance Industry Association imposed the highest punishment. The National Development and Reform Commission said that the Zhejiang Insurance Industry Association is the main leader and organizer of the monopoly agreement; the property insurance companies are in a relatively passive position, the illegal liability is lighter, and the illegal circumstances are also lighter, so according to the previous year's commercial auto insurance sales 1% of the penalty.
According to Li Bin, an insurance lawyer at Beijing Zhongshengsheng Law Firm, the punishment should be timely and timely. “For a long time, insurance industry associations have failed to promote full competition in the industry.” The earliest case of insurance industry associations violating antitrust laws and being punished occurred in Hunan. In 2012, Hunan Province Cangzhou Insurance Industry Association, Changde City Insurance Industry Association, Zhangjiajie City Insurance Industry Association and Yongzhou Insurance Industry Association, in violation of the relevant provisions of the Anti-Monopoly Law, organized insurance companies to sign the "Cooperation Convention", was sentenced to 40 A fine of 10,000 yuan to 450,000 yuan.
It is noteworthy that the official announcement of the official punishment responsibility letter for the first time in the full text of the National Development and Reform Commission is an attempt to openly enforce information and accept social supervision, directly pointing to the outside world's questioning the transparency of China's anti-monopoly law enforcement.
The National Development and Reform Commission believes that the Zhejiang Insurance Industry Association has organized various property insurance companies to set different commercial auto insurance fee rate ceiling standards, which has weakened the competition of companies to attract market players to expand their market share, so that the market share is relatively solid. Efficiency enterprises not only do not help to improve the competitiveness of small and medium-sized operators, but also weaken the incentives for operators in the whole industry to improve services and innovate products. Consumers can not only benefit from it, but also weaken market competition, and it is difficult to obtain high quality and low quality. Price goods and services.
Development and Reform Commission: Anti-monopoly, Li Bin, told reporters that the NDRC has severely punished local insurance industry associations for violating anti-monopoly behavior. It is a severe warning to the behavior, which can promote the full competition of insurance companies in the industry and will also lead to supervision. The department's deeper discussion on the regulatory capabilities also represents the anti-monopoly appeal of the vulnerable group of consumers. However, Wang Xuyu, a professor at the Insurance Department of Beijing Technology and Business University, said that the relevant provisions of the anti-monopoly law are understandable to the market-oriented industry, but the auto insurance industry has not yet reached the degree of marketization.
In August, Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, the three major automakers in China, successively smashed the board of the National Development and Reform Commission's price anti-monopoly. The European Union Chamber of Commerce in China immediately issued a statement saying that some members were worried about whether the anti-monopoly stick would "prone" to foreign-invested enterprises and was strongly enforced.
In response to the above-mentioned doubts, Xu Kunlin, director of the Price Supervision and Inspection and Anti-Monopoly Bureau of the National Development and Reform Commission, who is in charge of price anti-monopoly, reiterated that the National Development and Reform Commission treats Chinese and foreign companies equally, and the relevant accusations are groundless.
In fact, as early as 2011, the National Development and Reform Commission Price Supervision Bureau first opened the two major central enterprises - China Telecom and China Unicom. However, by the end of the year, the Price Development Bureau of the National Development and Reform Commission announced that it would suspend the anti-monopoly investigation of the two major telecom giants. The reason is that the two giants actively proposed to rectify and improve the quality of interconnection. The netizens placed high hopes on "taking the central enterprises to open the knife first" and were questioned as "highly lifted and gently put down."
The price adjustment bureau of the National Development and Reform Commission questioned the anti-monopoly "selective" law enforcement when the voice of law enforcement was getting higher. The domestic insurance industry was shot. According to the industry associations and enterprises involved in the case, the price of monopoly auto insurance was reported. After the investigation, the insurance in Zhejiang Province was fined. Industry associations and 21 insurance companies have effectively responded to outside questions.