On August 20, Beijing Consumer Association launched the "Beijing Shared Power Bank Industry Self-Regulation Agreement," proposing nine measures focusing on transparent pricing, convenient borrowing and returning, and efficient complaint response. Eight companies covering 95% of the city's operating points, including Monster, Meituan, and Jiedian, have signed the agreement, committing to ensure service implementation through gradual technical upgrades and staff training.

The first provision of the agreement requires clear disclosure of charging rules in prominent positions on online rental pages, including free duration, billing standards, capped prices, and deposit policies. Regarding pricing models that consumers have been particularly concerned about, the agreement stipulates that rental fees should be calculated in time units not exceeding 15 minutes, with charges applied after 5 minutes within the first billing unit. From the second billing unit onwards, incomplete time units will not incur charges.

Additional requirements include lending devices with high battery levels and clearly informing consumers of remaining battery percentage, as well as reasonably controlling vacancy rates to ensure shared power bank cabinets maintain sufficient empty slots for timely on-site returns.

The agreement recommends establishing pause billing and free billing mechanisms. When consumers cannot return shared power banks promptly due to factors such as few return points in their location or no available cabinet slots, companies should pause billing after verification. In cases where consumers cannot return devices due to product defects or other force majeure factors, companies should waive usage fees for that session.

According to the China Consumer Association's analysis of complaints received by national consumer organizations in Q1 2024, shared power banks became complaint hotspots due to "difficult returns" and "abnormal billing." On the Black Cat Complaint platform, searches for "shared power bank" yield over 28,000 related complaints.

Previous consumer surveys conducted jointly by Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei consumer organizations showed that nearly 60% of respondents considered shared power bank fees unreasonable, with 15.23% citing unclear pricing transparency and labeling. Some shared power banks still employ unreasonable billing rules such as charging for 60 minutes when usage is less than 60 minutes, charging for 30 minutes when usage is less than 30 minutes, or charging for a full billing unit when exceeding usage by just one second.

In the shared power bank sector, brands like Monster Charging, Meituan Charging, and Jiedian hold significant market shares. According to the "2024 China Shared Power Bank Industry Research Report" released by iResearch, the industry shows high concentration with pronounced leading effects, with the top five brands commanding 96.6% market share. Monster Charging holds the highest market share at 36%.

Regarding pricing models, different brands and scenarios previously had significantly varying fee structures. Monster Charging typically offers free returns within 3 minutes, with fees generally at 4 yuan/hour, 24-hour cap of 40 yuan, and total cap of 99 yuan, though different locations have different pricing. Meituan usually provides free first 5 minutes, then charges per minute at rates ranging from 0.05 to 0.12 yuan per minute in Beijing, with 24-hour caps generally between 30-40 yuan and total cap of 99 yuan. Jiedian typically offers 1-minute free duration, with rates generally at 4 yuan/hour, 24-hour cap of 30 yuan, and total cap of 99 yuan, though some mall locations charge 5 yuan/hour with 24-hour caps of 60 yuan.

Due to continuously rising shared power bank fees and intense platform competition—requiring high entry fees to secure prime locations, further increasing costs—shared power bank companies face profitability challenges. Additionally, the widely adopted agency model has become a primary source of industry irregularities.

The self-regulation agreement launched by Beijing Consumer Association is expected to improve existing issues in the shared power bank industry and promote healthy industry development.