Multi-level marketing company Vinalink was discovered to have committed a series of violations.

(Dan Tri) - Vinalink Group was fined nearly 100 million VND for not properly implementing registered operating rules and not supervising the activities of multi-level marketing participants...

The National Competition Commission (Ministry of Industry and Trade) has just issued the conclusion of the inspection of multi-level marketing business at Vietnam Link Group Joint Stock Company (Vinalink Group).

The authorities said that, basically, the company has strictly complied with the management of multi-level marketing activities. However, Vinalink Group still has some shortcomings that need to be reviewed and improved regarding responsibilities in the process of operating and supervising the activities of multi-level sellers.

Accordingly, regarding the signing of multi-level sales participation contracts and commitments, the National Competition Commission said that the company delivered contracts to participants, but in many cases, they did not sign to confirm the delivery of the contracts.

In addition, Vinalink Group did not comply with the registered operating rules as prescribed in the procedures for receiving participants' commitments. Specifically, some commitments contained inconsistent information on the date of completion of basic training.

"The company asks participants to sign a commitment form along with a multi-level marketing participation contract, leaving the basic training information section blank. After completing the basic training, the company fills in the date and name of the trainer. This method causes participants to submit a commitment form when the information is incomplete and they are not fully aware of the information on the commitment form," the conclusion stated.

Vinalink was granted a certificate of registration for multi-level marketing activities in December 2014 (Photo: Vinalink Group).

In addition, the authorities pointed out that Vinalink Group did not comply with the registered operating rules related to the process of confirming completion of basic training programs and issuing membership cards to multi-level marketing participants.

Regarding the reflection on signs of lack of transparency in the company's multi-level sales activities in the Da Nang market, after working with relevant agencies, the National Competition Commission concluded that the company's multi-level sales participants had improper behavior when introducing and guiding multi-level sales participants at the company.

Specifically, these participants received money for purchases into their personal accounts, not following the prescribed payment process, and at the same time, supported participants in borrowing money to purchase goods.

The company bought back the goods and returned the money to the complainant in accordance with regulations. The contract between the company and the complainant was also terminated and liquidated on November 1, 2024. At the same time, Vinalink handled the violation by terminating the multi-level sales participation contract with the two violating participants.

Authorities confirmed that Vinalink Group did not properly fulfill its responsibility to supervise the activities of multi-level marketing participants.

Regarding the participants' complaints about signs that the company's multi-level sales participants required others to buy goods in order to sign contracts, the inspection team determined that there was no evidence to conclude about this behavior because the complainants did not come to work to provide information and documents.

The National Competition Commission said the inspection team has drawn up a record of handling violations of the amount of VND95 million for the above violations of Vinalink Group.

Previously, at the end of November 2023, Vinalink Group was fined VND 185 million for many similar violations such as not complying with registered operating rules, not performing basic training responsibilities, not supervising the activities of multi-level sales participants...

Vinalink Group is headquartered in Cau Giay New Urban Area (Hanoi) with Mr. Nguyen Xuan Hoang as Chairman of the Board of Directors and legal representative. The company was granted a certificate of registration for multi-level marketing activities in December 2014. Currently, the company operates multi-level marketing activities in 29 provinces and cities.

According to the list of goods traded under the multi-level marketing method at the time of inspection, Vinalink Group was trading 31 products, including 14 cosmetic products, 14 health protection foods, one food product and 2 beverage products.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/kinh-doanh/cong-ty-da-cap-vinalink-bi-phat-hien-hang-loat-vi-pham-20250102130845967.htm