New Delhi: – The e-commerce companies will have to clearly show the country of manufacture of the products sold on their websites. The company may face harsh punishments if substandard and duplicate products are sold on the site. The government has issued a notification regarding the amendments to the consumer protection act. Therefore, these new regulations have become applicable to e-commerce companies.
Last year, consumer protection bill replacing the obsolete Consumer Protection Act of 1986 was passed in the parliament. The new regulations, according to the bill passed, were implemented through a notification issued. The rights of the consumer have been increased with these new regulations. Some strict provisions also have been made, keeping in view the interests of the consumer.
The e-commerce companies will have to provide all the details of all the products sold on their platform. Along with the security of the payment gateway and customer care number, there is a requirement of providing information regarding the agreement signed with the supplier of the product. The prices on the e-commerce platform cannot be changed, and the e-commerce company will not be able to hide any information regarding the products. It has been made mandatory to provide information regarding ‘Made in Country’, for each product. The campaign for the boycott of Chinese products has intensified in India. Therefore, these regulations will make it easy to differentiate between the Made in India and Made in China products.
The e-commerce company may face action if the information regarding the products is found to be false or fake. There is a provision of punishment for selling duplicate products. The consumer has the rights to appeal to the consumer commission or can register their complaints with the consumer commission online. There is a provision for life imprisonment in case an adulterated product is sold. There is a provision for cancellation of license in case a duplicate product is sold. Also, there is a provision to levy a fine in case a faulty product is sold.
Under the new regulations, the responsibility of e-commerce has been defined at a time when e-commerce is flourishing in the country, where the government has introduced a strict control regime. There is a prediction that e-commerce in India will reach USD 82 billion by 2021.
