The government proposed on Monday the introduction of a mandatory seven-day cooling-off period and a 14-day refund period for pre-paid contracts sold by beauty parlours and fitness centres, in a bid to better protect the rights of consumers.

Under proposed amendments to the Trade Descriptions Ordinance, the new requirements will apply to contracts valued at HK$3,000 or above, HK$8,000 or above, or HK$15,000 or above.

The duration of contracts for beauty and gym services will be capped at a maximum of two years.

And once a contract is signed, operators will have to start offering services within three months.

The government also proposed adding the offence of "wrongly accepting payment" under the Trade Descriptions Ordinance to the Organised and Serious Crimes Ordinance.

That will give Customs officers greater enforcement powers, including the authority to freeze assets through a restraint order from the court.

Officials pointed out that the beauty and fitness service sectors accounted for nearly 90 percent of cases involving improper sales practices.

"With growing concern in the community regarding high-pressure and persuasion selling tactics, as well as the risks of the pre-payment mode of consumption, the government has to step up its efforts to provide better protection to consumers, while respecting the freedom of contract to maintain a favourable business environment in Hong Kong," a government spokesman said.

"Therefore, the more pragmatic direction is to adopt a targeted approach, stipulating proportionate regulatory measures on industries that are most prone to improper selling tactics and specific contracts involving large amounts of pre-payments."

A two-month public consultation on the legislative proposals began on Monday, and authorities also plan to organise consultative sessions to gather views from the beauty and fitness industries.


Edited by Edmond Fong