The Regulatory Dilemma and Solution for Algorithmic Personalized Pricing

In the era of digital economy, algorithmic personalized pricing—a method approaching first-degree price discrimination—has emerged as a novel tool for profit maximization. While creating business opportunities for operators, it simultaneously triggers multiple risks: infringing consumers' legitimate rights, disrupting fair market competition, and eroding aggregate consumer welfare. Confronting this new pricing paradigm, existing legal frameworks—including the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests, Pricing Law, Anti-Monopoly Law, and Anti-Unfair Competition Law—demonstrate inadequate adaptability. Systemic deficiencies persist in holistic oversight and collaborative regulation, compounded by insufficient algorithmic internal controls within platforms and deficient consumer algorithm literacy. To prevent and mitigate hazards of algorithmic personalized pricing, a three-pronged approach is imperative: refining legal norms, strengthening regulatory enforcement, and advancing collaborative governance. This integrated strategy will overcome current regulatory dilemmas and foster a healthy, upright digital economic ecosystem.