School: The contractor has been corrected. The cafeteria stall of a university in Guangdong was fined for not increasing the price of food below 13 yuan

Did you receive a fine instead of raising the price of the food? On September 4th, a netizen revealed that a stall in the cafeteria of Guangzhou Huali University received a penalty of 300 yuan for not raising the price of each meal below 13 yuan, which has attracted attention. On September 5th, Guangzhou Huali College told a reporter from Zonglan News that the above-mentioned punishment was imposed by the cafeteria contractor. The school believes that the punishment is indeed unreasonable and has requested the cafeteria contractor to correct it. The cafeteria stall has not been punished. Meanwhile, the cafeteria contractor also stated that they will not increase prices again. The Market Supervision Administration of Zengcheng District, Guangzhou City stated that it has requested the company involved to carry out rectification. After investigation, no illegal pricing behavior was found, and it has been recommended that the company strengthen internal management.

On September 4th, a netizen posted two pictures with accompanying text stating that on September 3rd, a stall in the cafeteria of Guangzhou Huali University, known as "Ping An Fragrant Grilled Rice," was fined by the cafeteria management for selling less than 13 yuan per serving. Looking at the news, the reporter saw that one of the pictures showed a notice titled "Guangzhou Fanghua Catering Management Co., Ltd. Punishment Notice". The reason for the fine was that "the price of the food was lower than 13 yuan and he refused to change after repeated education", with a deduction of 300 yuan. The other picture is a screenshot of a WeChat chat, and a person with the note "Manager Zhou" sent out two pictures and said, "If you don't make any changes tomorrow, you will be fined 1000 yuan.".

Penalty Notice

Public information shows that Guangzhou Huali University is a full-time private undergraduate institution. The predecessor of the school was Huali College of Guangdong University of Technology, established in 1999. In 2004, it was approved by the Ministry of Education and became one of the first independent colleges in Guangdong Province. In 2021, with the approval of the Ministry of Education, it was transformed into Guangzhou Huali College. As of June 2023, the school has two campuses: Guangzhou Zengcheng and Jiangmen Yinhuwan.

The reporter saw that the official official account of Guangzhou Fanghua Catering Management Co., Ltd., "Fanghua Smart Catering", had tweeted that the company had successfully operated hundreds of enterprise units and university canteens, including "Zengcheng Huali College".

On the 5th, the reporter contacted a staff member of the General Affairs Office of Guangzhou Huali University. He claimed that the cafeteria of the school was outsourced to Guangzhou Fanghua Catering Management Co., Ltd. After receiving feedback from students, he had already gone to investigate the situation. After learning from the canteen manager, it was found that due to the increase in food market prices, the contractor requested a unified price increase for the canteen stalls. However, the price of the "Ping An Fragrant Grilled Rice" stall did not increase. Later, a canteen administrator went to "scare" the staff of the stall and said they would be fined 300 yuan. He stated that the punishment was indeed unreasonable and requested the cafeteria contractor to immediately correct it. The stall was not fined, and the cafeteria contractor also promised not to increase prices again. On the morning of the 5th, the market supervision department also came to the school and requested the cafeteria contractor to rectify the management model, business model, management methods, etc.

Online chat records

At around 12:00 on the 5th, the reporter contacted the Price Supervision Department of the Zengcheng District Market Supervision Administration in Guangzhou. The department replied that personnel had been sent to the school for processing, and the specific situation is still being understood. At around 17:00, the reporter called the Price Supervision Department again, and a staff member who answered the phone told the reporter that the company that issued the penalty to the cafeteria stall was indeed Guangzhou Fanghua Catering Management Co., Ltd. This company is not an administrative unit and does not have the power to impose penalties. The expression of "punishment" on the penalty form is inappropriate, and the company has been requested to rectify it. After investigation, it was found that the company did not engage in price violations. It has been suggested that the company strengthen its internal management.