Salient features of the draft guidelines:
- The guidelines will be applicable on all business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce platforms.
- It seeks to protect personally-identifiable information of customers and set a 14-day limit for payments toward refund requests.
- The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) would be established to promote, protect and enforce consumer rights. It would have the power to take action against violating firms.
- The platforms are also required to display terms of contract with the seller relating to return, refund, exchange, warranty, delivery and mode of payments.
- It proposes to make it mandatory for e-commerce entities to accept returns in the event the products delivered are “defective, wrong or spurious” or if they do not have the characteristics or features advertised.
- Every e-commerce entity has to publish the contact details of its grievance officer, who would have to address complaints within one month from the date of receipt.
- The final rules will be notified by December 2019.
