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New rules for e-tailers in India to be effective this week
21 Jul '20
3 min read
Pic: Shutterstock
Indian consumer affairs minister Ram Vilas Paswan yesterday said the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020, for all electronic retailers offering goods and services to Indian consumers will come into force by the end of this week. The entities will face penal action for non-compliance. The rules include mandatory display of country of origin and expiry date on products.
"Most rules framed under the Consumer Protection Act 2019 have come into force from today [July 20]. However, e-commerce rules will get notified by the end of this week, while rules on direct selling will take some more time," he told reporters in a virtual press conference.
Consumer affairs secretary Leena Nandan said the rules have been finalised after taking inputs from the department for promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT) under the commerce ministry so that they do not have conflicts with the overall e-commerce policy, according to an official release.
The e-commerce players will have to display the total price of goods and services offered for sale along with break-up of other charges. They have to display details about return, refund, exchange, warranty and guarantee, delivery and shipment, modes of payment, and grievance redressal mechanism, and any other similar information that may be required by consumers to make informed decisions.
E-tailers should not impose cancellation charges on consumers cancelling after confirming purchase, unless similar charges are also borne by the e-commerce entity if it cancels the purchase order unilaterally for any reason.
They are also not allowed to manipulate the price of the goods and services offered on their platforms to gain unreasonable profit and discriminate between consumers of the same class or make any arbitrary classification of consumers affecting their rights under the act.
Further, e-tailers will have to provide information on available payment methods, the security of those payment methods, any fees or charges payable by users, the procedure to cancel regular payments under those methods, charge-back options, if any, and the contact information of the relevant payment service provider.
That apart, e-tailers are required to display prominently to the users details about the sellers offering goods and services, including the name of their business, whether registered or not, their geographic address, customer care number, any rating or other aggregated feedback about such seller, and any other information necessary for enabling consumers to make informed decisions at the pre-purchase stage.
They are also required to provide a ticket number for each complaint lodged, through which the consumer can track the status of the complaint.
However, the rules will not permit any inventory e-commerce entity, including single-brand retailers and multi-channel single-brand retailers, to falsely represent itself as a consumer and post reviews about goods and services or misrepresent the quality or the features of any goods and services.
"Most rules framed under the Consumer Protection Act 2019 have come into force from today [July 20]. However, e-commerce rules will get notified by the end of this week, while rules on direct selling will take some more time," he told reporters in a virtual press conference.
Consumer affairs secretary Leena Nandan said the rules have been finalised after taking inputs from the department for promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT) under the commerce ministry so that they do not have conflicts with the overall e-commerce policy, according to an official release.
The e-commerce players will have to display the total price of goods and services offered for sale along with break-up of other charges. They have to display details about return, refund, exchange, warranty and guarantee, delivery and shipment, modes of payment, and grievance redressal mechanism, and any other similar information that may be required by consumers to make informed decisions.
E-tailers should not impose cancellation charges on consumers cancelling after confirming purchase, unless similar charges are also borne by the e-commerce entity if it cancels the purchase order unilaterally for any reason.
They are also not allowed to manipulate the price of the goods and services offered on their platforms to gain unreasonable profit and discriminate between consumers of the same class or make any arbitrary classification of consumers affecting their rights under the act.
Further, e-tailers will have to provide information on available payment methods, the security of those payment methods, any fees or charges payable by users, the procedure to cancel regular payments under those methods, charge-back options, if any, and the contact information of the relevant payment service provider.
That apart, e-tailers are required to display prominently to the users details about the sellers offering goods and services, including the name of their business, whether registered or not, their geographic address, customer care number, any rating or other aggregated feedback about such seller, and any other information necessary for enabling consumers to make informed decisions at the pre-purchase stage.
They are also required to provide a ticket number for each complaint lodged, through which the consumer can track the status of the complaint.
However, the rules will not permit any inventory e-commerce entity, including single-brand retailers and multi-channel single-brand retailers, to falsely represent itself as a consumer and post reviews about goods and services or misrepresent the quality or the features of any goods and services.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
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