Ministry of Consumer Affairs unveiled draft e-commerce norms for consumer protection

The Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs , Food and Public Distribution has released the draft “e-commerce guidelines for consumer protection 2019” to protect the interest of online shoppers. The draft stated that an e-commerce entity such as Amazon and Flipkart cannot directly or indirectly influence the price of the goods or services. It added that every e-commerce entity needs to publish the name & contact details of the grievance officer on their website along with the mechanism by which users can lodge their complaints. As per the draft, e-commerce platforms cannot falsely represent themselves as consumers or post reviews about goods & services in their name. The platforms are also required to display terms of contract with the seller relating to return, refund, exchange, warranty, delivery and mode of payments. The draft is open for stakeholder comments for 45 days or till September 16, 2019.