Govt to issue guidelines to protect e-commerce consumers

Chennai: The Department of Corporate Affairs has proposed a set of guidelines for the e-commerce companies operating in the country. This also includes measures to safeguard the interests of the consumers.

As per the guidelines, every e-commerce company should be a registered legal entity under the laws of India and shall not directly or indirectly influence the price of the goods or services and shall maintain a level playing field.

In order to protect the interests of the consumers, details about the sellers supplying the goods and services, including identity of their business, legal name, principal geographic address, name of website, e-mail address, contact details, including clarification of their business identity, the products they sell, and how they can be contacted by customers shall be displayed in the web site.

They should also display terms of contract between the e-commerce entity and the seller relating to return, refund, exchange, warranty / guarantee, delivery / shipment, mode of payments and grievance redressal mechanism to enable consumers to make informed decisions. They should accept return of goods if delivered late from the stated delivery schedule or delivery of defective, wrong or spurious products.

Every e-commerce entity should publish on its website the name of the Grievance Officer and his contact details as well as mechanism by which users can notify their complaints about products and services. The Grievance Officer shall redress the complaints within one month from the date of receipt of complaint, provide facility to consumers to register their complaints over phone, email or website and shall provide complaint number for tracking the complaint. The e-commerce company also should provide consumers with transparent and effective consumer protection that is not less than the level of protection offered in other forms of commerce.

The ministry has sought suggestions from the stakeholders on the guidelines.