Are Price Hikes During the Spring Festival Acceptable?

Every year during the Spring Festival, a wave of price hikes in various sectors, particularly in service industries like restaurants, hotels, car hailing and car washes, sweeps across China’s big cities and this year was no exception.

For example, Didi, a mobile transport platform, demanded passengers pay drivers extra from January 28 to February 10, ranging from 1-9 yuan ($0.15-$1.34) based on local affordability. Didi claimed it did so because many drivers choose not to work during the holiday. Paying more will encourage more of them to continue working during the festival, it reasoned.

Another example were the hotels in Yangshuo, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in the south, a star tourist resort. Local hotels pushed up their prices by hundreds of yuan or even over 1,000 yuan ($148.67) during the Spring Festival, but the prices all fell back to normal after February 12.

Today, there is a growing outcry against this kind of price hike. Many people are saying that some businesses are exploiting the festival to make a hefty profit and are asking for the government’s intervention. On the other hand, the businesses claim they are forced to do so because there is a shortage of workers during the festival and thus, their labor costs rise.

Are price hikes during the Spring Festival a reasonable practice as a result of the market rule of supply and demand? Or should the practice be banned? Most people say they would be happy to bear the extra cost under certain conditions.

A winwin result Song Pengwei (

New Express): While others celebrate the Spring Festival, some people keep working. In many companies and organizations, those who work during the festival are supposed to get overtime pay, then why not Didi drivers, restaurant staff and other workers like them? To pay more for service is based on voluntariness. It should not be banned but instead, should be protected.

Take car washes for example. There are so few of them open during the festival, in contrast to the many cars waiting to be washed. So an increase in the money charged is understandable as long as the car washes are not conspiring among themselves to overcharge car owners.

If a sector is profitable, more capital will flow into it until the price returns to a reasonable level. Simply put, when a car wash makes huge profits during the Spring Festival because of price hikes, more will copy this business model, and when there are enough car washes operating during the holiday, the price will naturally go back to normal.

In a well-developed market, price is the best lubricant. Subjectively, price hikes benefit service providers, but objectively, buyers are also beneficiaries since they would not have the service otherwise. So this is a win-win result.

Those who complain about price hikes tend to turn a blind eye to service providers working overtime during the Spring Festival. On the other hand, low service charges will discourage quality service, leading to a lose-lose result.

Yang Yulong (www.gmw.cn):

There are some market factors behind the so-called price hikes during festivals. To some extent, this kind of price hike is reasonable as service providers sacrifice their holiday to serve others. In real life, most consumers will accept fee hikes during the Spring Festival.

However, although the practice is understandable, it must not be unscrupulous. When deciding the price, business operators must follow fair, legal and sincere principles. They should not manipulate market prices, hurting other business operators’ and consumers’ legitimate rights. Allowing price hikes during the Spring Festival does not mean a reckless increase. Car washes and hairdressers can decide how to raise the price realistically. As long as customers accept it, it’s all right.

Another important point is that the new prices must be clearly marked if there is a hike. If businesses charge more than this marked price, or clandestinely charge fees that are not publicly disclosed, consumers have the right to sue.

In general, price hikes during the Spring Festival result from market factors. The extent of the hikes mainly depends on the ethics of the businesses. Although consumers have no say in this, businesses should not play tricks on them as the market rule and state regulation are never absent.

On a reasonable level Jiang Debin (www.voc.com.cn):

During the Spring Festival, a lot of people need to go back home for family reunions, so there is a serious shortage of staff in the service sector. Most service providers stop operating during the weeklong or longer holiday, like restaurants, housekeeping and express delivery. City dwellers find that they can’t even buy breakfast and their daily routine becomes chaotic. In recent years, in order to continue serving city residents and tourists,