Revised driving school contract model introduced
A revised driving school contract model will be put into use starting from Wednesday to better regulate the market and protect consumers’ rights.
The new model was jointly introduced by Shanghai Industry and Commerce Administration, Shanghai Transport Administration’s transport management office and Shanghai Motor Vehicle Driver Training Industry Association.
The reform encourages a “pay after learn” pattern for driver training courses. The model also specifies duties and responsibilities of both driving schools and their customers.
The contract model is not obligatory, and driving schools aren't compelled to draw up a contract based on the recommended model before reaching agreements with their customers.
“The revised contract made the duties and responsibilities of driving schools and their customers clearer compared to the old version,” said Zhang Yusong, an official with the Shanghai Industry and Commerce Administration. “The ‘pay after learn’ pattern also aims at protecting consumers’ rights.”
The traditional paying pattern requires a customer to complete the whole payment at the beginning of a driver training course, but the "pay after learn” pattern allows customers to pay after each training session —making the payment system more flexible.
The reform will also encourage improved teaching quality from trainers, officials said.
The old pattern was introduced by Shanghai Transport Administration’s transport management office in 2008.
Driving schools can use both paying patterns, according to what is most practicable.
The revised contract also requires driving schools to build personal archives for each customer and states the driving school should take full responsibility when an accident or traffic rule violation occurs during training.
Also, a customer should inform the driving school if he or she is a victim of any kind of disease that hampers driving safety. A learner should not drive unaccompanied, the new model states.
“The contract model is not obligatory, and the administration doesn’t have law enforcement right if driving schools don’t follow the recommended model,” Zhang added.
The revised contract model can be found at Shanghai Industry and Commerce Administration’s website of www.sgs.gov.cn.
By the end of June, Shanghai had 201 driving schools and 26,580 registered trainers. About 218,000 people received training in the first half of this year.
