Comprehensive Interpretation of the Detailed Rules for the Home Appliances Going to the Countryside Operation
On April 23, the Ministry of Finance, together with the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Commerce and 11 other ministries and commissions, jointly issued the "Detailed Rules for the Home Appliances Going to the Countryside Operation," which made major adjustments to and standardized the methods for the Home Appliances Going to the Countryside program, greatly simplified the subsidy review and payment procedures for the program, and set out specific provisions on improving the quality of Home Appliances Going to the Countryside products, improving after-sales service, and strengthening the supervision and management of manufacturers and sellers. The most important contents include:
Subsidy funds must be paid in full within 15 working days
A pilot reform to simplify subsidy procedures was carried out in 16 provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government and municipalities with independent planning status, including Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Dalian, Heilongjiang, Anhui, Shandong, Qingdao, Henan, Hubei, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Chongqing, Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu. The restrictive relationship between the manufacturer's shipment registration and the sales outlet's entry step was removed, and the steps of review by the township finance office and payment by the county finance bureau were cancelled, replaced by review on behalf of the authorities by the sales outlet and payment by the township finance office.
The pilot period was from May 1, 2009 to July 31, 2009, and after the pilot succeeded it was to be rolled out nationwide.
In areas that did not carry out the reform, the original "review by the township finance office, payment by the county finance bureau" was adjusted to "review and direct payment by the township finance office."
Regardless of whether the reform to simplify subsidy procedures was carried out, in areas where payment by "one card" or "one passbook" methods was difficult due to reasons such as an underdeveloped banking network or a vast territory with a sparse population, the method could be adopted whereby the sales outlet reviews on behalf of the authorities and advances the subsidy funds, then settles accounts with the finance department. After the above simplification measures were adopted, the subsidy funds had to be paid in full within 15 working days after the farmer submitted the subsidy application.
Products expanded to 9 categories; computers, air conditioners and water heaters all included
Home Appliances Going to the Countryside products include 9 categories: color TVs, refrigerators (including freezers), mobile phones, washing machines, computers, air conditioners, water heaters, solar water heaters, gas water heaters, solar water heaters), microwave ovens and induction cookers; motorcycles have already been included in the subsidy channel for automobiles going to the countryside.
The maximum price limits for Home Appliances Going to the Countryside products are as follows:
Color TV 3500 yuan, refrigerator (including freezer) 2500 yuan, mobile phone 1000 yuan, washing machine 2000 yuan, wall-mounted air conditioner 2500 yuan, floor-standing air conditioner 4000 yuan, storage-type electric water heater 1500 yuan, gas water heater 2500 yuan, solar water heater 4000 yuan, computer 3500 yuan, microwave oven 1000 yuan, induction cooker 600 yuan.
Each rural household is limited to purchasing 2 units (pieces) of each category of Home Appliances Going to the Countryside product that enjoys subsidies, and the finance department provides subsidy funds equal to 13% of the product sales price for farmers purchasing Home Appliances Going to the Countryside products. The sales price of Home Appliances Going to the Countryside products must not be higher than the winning bid price of the product or the price of similar products on the market during the same period, but products may be sold below the winning bid price as costs fall and according to supply and demand factors.
Tax invoices must be issued
In order to protect rural consumers' right to enjoy subsidized prices, the "Detailed Rules for the Operation" provide that Home Appliances Going to the Countryside sales outlets must issue tax invoices to farmers purchasing Home Appliances Going to the Countryside products, and must note on the invoice information such as the product model, price, product identification card number, purchaser's name and ID number.