数字经济背景下拒收现金的法律规制

Legal Regulation of Rejecting Cash Under the Background of Digital Economy

拒收现金行为不仅是民商事交易中意思自治或公法干预的产物,也体现在行政与司法机关的依法履职过程中,其主要源于数字经济背景下现金发行主体与支付服务主体之间的支付工具市场竞争。货币接收主体或支付服务主体出于减少现金保管等成本的需要而拒收现金,将极大削弱社会弱势群体获取与使用现金的能力,因此需要法律予以规制。我国央行认定拒收现金合法性的依据为货币法中的“不得拒收”条文和消费者保护法中的“选择权”条文,但基于立法目的差异、旧法新用局限等因素,这两类条文难以规制多样化的拒收现金行为。随着数字经济的深化发展和数字人民币的广泛流通,应通过具有“债务清偿效力”的法偿货币地位补强人民币的法定货币地位,以尊重当事人平等协商后的支付工具选择。在此前提下,应将公民获取与使用现金的权利纳入基本权利、明确相应的国家保护义务;同时,应在民商事交易领域和公法领域分别基于成本效益原则以及比例原则,确立可以拒收现金的“合理正当”标准。

Cash rejection is not only the consequence of autonomy or public intervention in the market transaction,but also reflected in the process of administrative or judicial institutions performing duties under the law,which mainly originates from the market competition of payment instruments between cash issuers and payment service providers under the background of digital economy.For the purpose of reducing the cost of cash safekeeping,the payees or payment service providers may refuse to accept cash,which will greatly weaken the ability of social vulnerable groups to obtain and use cash.Therefore,it is necessary to regulate the cash rejection by law.The People’s Bank of China determines the legality of the refusal of cash based on the non-refusal clause in the monetary law and the option clause in the consumer protection law.However,due to factors such as the difference in legislative purposes and the limitations of the new use of the old law,it is difficult for these two provisions to regulate diversified behaviors of cash rejection.With the deepening of digital economy and the wide circulation of E-CNY,the fiat status of Renminbi should be strengthened through legal tender status with debt repayment effect,so as to respect the option of payment instrument after equal consultation by the parties.On this premise,the right to obtain and use cash should be included into the basic rights under the Constitution to clarify the national protection obligation.Meanwhile,it is necessary to establish the legitimate standards for rejecting cash based on the cost-benefit principle in market transactions as well as the proportionality principle in the field of public law respectively.