Many ecommerce platforms not displaying MRP, best-before dates: Survey

Three years after ecommerce was brought under the ambit of legal metrology, many sellers and platforms still do not display MRP and best-before dates on the packaged products.

A survey by Local Circles, which got 19,000 responses, showed one in two consumers say they are unable to find MRP information for packaged products on many ecommerce sites/apps.

Four in five consumers say they are unable to find best-before date information for human consumption packaged products on many of the sites.

Despite the roll out of Packaged Commodity Rules 2017 amendment going into effect from January 1, 2018, many newer ecommerce platforms and their sellers continue to be non-compliant by failing to display the MRP and best-before date information for packaged products even 3 years later.

The need of the hour is for the Legal Metrology Division under Department of Consumer Affairs to enforce the law so the non-compliant platforms and sellers take immediate action. With purchasing via ecommerce channels coming into the mainstream in the last few years and hundreds of millions of consumers across the country using this channel to purchase products, it is critical that consumers are presented with accurate and complete information when making buying decisions.

LocalCircles has escalated these findings to the leadership of the Department of Consumer Affairs and is hopeful that the necessary corrective action will be taken by the Legal Metrology Division and the respective platforms soon.

A study conducted in 2018 revealed that 13 per cent of consumers were able to find best-before dates on all packaged human consumption products listed on ecommerce platforms. However, this percentage has dropped to 10 per cent in 2021. Further, percentage of consumers saying “able to find best-before dates on less than 20 per cent packaged products” decreased from 20 per cent in 2018 to 11 per cent on 2021. About 43 per cent of the consumers were able to find best-before dates on 20-50 per cent packaged human consumption in 2021, a slight increase from 33 per cent in 2018.

The percentage of consumers unable to find best-before dates on any packaged human consumption products listed on ecommerce sites/apps reduced from 34 per cent to 26 per cent in the same period. Data analysis suggests that there has not been much improvement in compliance for displaying best before date on eCommerce sites in the last three years.

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