What's New

Ministry of Consumer Affairs (MCA) has made amendments to the E-commerce rules. Describe briefly about these changes and comment on them. Also mention the key features of Consumer Protection Act of 2019.

Introduction:

E-Commerce in India is an industry which is growing rapidly at present. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic most of the states have restricted the movement of people thus providing E-Commerce companies to expand their business. Sellers are also keen on selling their products through these products so that supply-chain intermediaries can be bypassed. To provide a level playing field, government has been amending its E-Commerce laws as and when required.

Body:

The key amendments that are proposed to this act are:

1) Flash sales which are back-to-back, limiting the customer choices are prohibited

2) Mis-selling through misinformation has been prohibited.

3) Protectionof consumer data by prohibiting the companies from making available it to others

4) Appointment of compliance officers for grieveance redressal

5) Registration of every E-Commerce entity with Department for promotion of Industry & Internal trade.

6) Filtering of goods on the basis of country of origin

7) Suggesting alternate domestic goods.

Conclusion:

The proposed changes aim at bringing more transparency in the sector which makes sure that the rights of the customer is not denied because the chances of exploitation of customer is very high in E-Commerce.