Government drafts guidelines for e-commerce player to self-regulate

Bengaluru: The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), on Tuesday, released a draft document outlining principles for self-governance in the e-commerce industry. The focus is on consumer protection against counterfeit products and grievance redressal.

One of the critical guidelines is for establishing the credentials of the vendors on the platforms, with vigorous disclosure of the business partner details and also proper detailing of products. 

Likewise, it calls for proper  proper disclosure of policies on return of products and the refund procedure. “Such a reversal process should prominently be published on the platform for the ease of access of the consumer. It should clearly specify the charges; time limits and any other relevant information,” the guidelines stated.  

These measures are being taken up on the back of complaints of laid back approach and even unresolved customer complaints, delivery of counterfeit and wrong products and improper product disclosures. 

In one such instance, an e-commerce platform which had a ‘no-questions asked’ 15-day return policy did not disclose that the process was chargeable at Rs 100 per return, borne by the consumer.  

Presently, all e-commerce platforms in India follow the Legal Metrology guidelines, under which they are supposed to give proper declaration of commodities being sold, including name and address of the manufacturer, use by the date, consumer care details and others. Not following these guidelines can lead to fine or penalisation (repeated offence), according to the Ministry of Consumer Affairs. 

BIS has also suggested submission of the product page for internal review before it is  made live to ensure that counterfeit, fraudulent or illegal products are not listed or sold on the platform and developing a well-defined process to investigate such cases. A recent survey by community platform LocalCircles had shown that 1 in 5 consumers received at least one counterfeit product, largely from Meesho and Flipkart. However, only 39 per cent of these consumers were able to get a replacement. 

In November 2024, Flipkart was fined Rs 10,000 by a District Consumer Redressal Forum in Mumbai for refusing to take back a nutrition supplement from a consumer, who alleged that the product was a counterfeit. The forum called Flipkart's "no return policy" unfair trade practice and a deficiency in service.

The draft guidelines also reiterate a decree made last year for consumer reviews and ratings being in strict compliance with IS 19000 : 2022 Online Consumer Reviews – Principles and Requirements for their Collection, Moderation and Publication. According to this standard, organisations are supposed to publish consumer reviews online collected without a bias objective and prejudice. Additionally, any such platform shouldn’t edit reviews to alter their message as well as not prevent or discourage people from submitting negative reviews.

The number of consumer grievances relating to e-commerce increased significantly from 95,270 in 2018 (22 per cent of total grievances lodged with the National Consumer Helpline), the number of grievances have risen to 4,44,034 in 2023 (43 per cent of total grievances). 

The guidelines also stresses on platforms to have mechanisms to enable consumers to report and flag violations easily. For example, Amazon does not have an easy-access call option for complaints.

The draft of the guidelines has been put in circulation for public comments till Feb 20, 2025.