Xiaomi Vietnam Hit with VNĐ290 Million Fine for Three Consumer Rights Breaches

2. Undisclosed Influencer (KOL) Sponsorships

The company failed to publicly disclose or notify consumers in advance that it was sponsoring Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) and influencers to promote its products. According to the decision, this failure to disclose the commercial relationship violates Point h, Clause 1, Article 35 of the 2023 Law . The rule targets covert advertising, ensuring consumers know when product endorsements are paid for.

3. Inclusion of Unfair Contractual Terms

Xiaomi’s standard consumer contracts included terms that unfairly limited the company's liability and allowed it to unilaterally change terms without reasonable notice to the buyer. These contractual provisions were found to violate Point a, Clause 2, and Point b, Clause 2, Article 27 of the 2023 Law . This part of the ruling addresses power imbalances in standard-form contracts.

Broader Enforcement Context: A Coordinated Crackdown

The fine against Xiaomi is not an isolated incident but part of a systematic regulatory push in Vietnam. Both the 2023 Law on Protection of Consumer Rights and the amended Advertising Law, which took effect on January 1, 2026, have armed authorities with new tools to target misleading influencer marketing .

The VCC has been actively wielding these new powers. By January 2026, the commission had already fined 14 businesses and 6 individuals a total of over VNĐ3.55 billion for related violations .

The Y&B Case: A Direct Precedent

A direct precedent for Xiaomi’s influencer disclosure violation exists. On January 14, 2026, the VCC fined Y&B Joint Stock Company, the exclusive distributor of Cocoon Vietnam-branded cosmetics, VNĐ50 million. The company failed to disclose to consumers that it had sponsored influencers to promote its products—the same violation cited for Xiaomi . This prior enforcement action clearly signaled the VCC's intentions.

The new rules require KOLs to verify product information and publicly disclose that their endorsement is a paid sponsorship. Influencers and the companies that hire them now face joint liability if advertising causes harm .

International Pressure Points for Xiaomi

The $11,000 fine in Vietnam is a relatively small sum compared to the legal risks Xiaomi faces in other jurisdictions. In January 2025, the Austrian privacy advocacy group noyb (None of Your Business) filed a series of GDPR complaints against Xiaomi and five other Chinese tech companies in five EU countries. These complaints allege the unlawful transfer of European users’ personal data to China, a country the EU does not recognize as having adequate data protections .

These GDPR complaints, which are still pending, can theoretically result in fines of up to 4% of a company’s global annual turnover. This stands in stark contrast to the more modest administrative fines currently issued under Vietnam's new consumer protection framework. By early 2026, total GDPR fines across the EU had surpassed €7.1 billion, illustrating the immense financial scale of European data-privacy enforcement .