Hyderabad: Thanks to e-commerce, people in the remotest of locations are a click away from buying products of their choice. In fact, India has the fastest growing online retail market. Attractive discounts, offers and cashbacks are some of the contributing factors to the success of e-stores.
However, although a quarter of the country’s population shops online, there has been no mechanism or a set of regulations to resolve disputes related to these purchases. Recently, the Centre updated consumer protection legislation and notified several new e-commerce rules. Further, e-commerce rules are now a part of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019. This comes as a relief to e-commerce customers.
Online retail giants like Amazon have businesses worth thousands of crores in India alone. The US-based retail chain Walmart acquired an 81 per cent controlling stake in Flipkart. Domestically, there are 19,000 e-commerce companies but only 70 are fully functional. They have a lion’s share in the market too. Everything from shoes to clothes to life-saving medicines are available in these digital stores.
In 2018, there were 22.4 crore e-consumers in the country. By the end of 2020, the number is expected to increase to 32 crore. India’s e-commerce business was pegged at 1.79 lakh crore in 2017 and it is estimated to shoot up to 6.28 lakh crore by 2021. Digital sales took over as the pandemic raged.
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Initially, e-commerce companies mushroomed due to lack of regulations. In case of undelivered or damaged products, consumers could not question the companies. In the past, several customers complained that they received soap boxes and bricks instead of iPhones. When consumers return duplicate or substandard goods, e-commerce sites take longer than usual to issue a refund.
Under the new Consumer Protection Rules, 2020, the e-commerce rules will apply to all digital retailers that supply goods to Indian consumers. The new norms empower the customers, and e-tailers will be held responsible for fraudulent and counterfeit products. No cancellation charges should be imposed after confirming purchase unless similar charges are also borne by the e-commerce company.
Online retailers must display details about return, refund, exchange, warranty and guarantee, delivery and shipment, modes of payment, grievance redressal mechanism and country of origin. These regulations are going to be crucial in the current context of ban on Chinese goods. Union Minister for food and public distribution Ram Vilas Paswan asked the state governments to strictly enforce these regulations.
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The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has sweeping powers to book those found violating consumer rights. It will be led by a chief commissioner, who shall enforce the Consumer Protection Act, regulating issues related to consumer rights. The new regulatory regime was welcomed by domestic e-commerce companies like Snapdeal.
But an executive of an e-commerce firm said that it would be difficult for sellers to provide details of a grievance officer for every purchase. It remains to be seen if these new e-commerce rules will put an end to the digital monopoly.
