On-site Identification and Prevention of Metering Fraud of Electronic Pricing Scales in Farmer’s Markets

At present, the governance of metering fraud involving electronic pricing scales in farmer’s markets is shifting from ex-post investigation and punishment to source prevention and control, technology-enabled oversight and multi-stakeholder co-governance. Since the start of this year, market regulatory authorities have continued to advance the development of metering legal systems and livelihood metering initiatives. The successive implementation of the newly revised verification specifications and regulatory measures has provided clearer grounds for governance. The rollout of smart metering supervision platforms offers technical support for online monitoring and one code per scale.

Looking ahead, regulatory trends will further highlight the rule of law, digitalization and social engagement. On the one hand, regulatory responsibilities of all relevant parties will be enforced through binding laws and regulations; on the other hand, data sharing will improve regulatory precision, while social forces will be widely mobilized to participate in supervision. Frontline regulators should hone their core capabilities of “identification, inspection, prevention and administration", master the essentials for identifying hardware modifications and software tampering, make good use of differentiated management, credit constraints, online monitoring and other tools, and build synergy through public oversight. Only with multi-pronged, persistent efforts can a reliable consumption environment with accurate weighing and full measure be steadily maintained.