DRAFT E-COMMERCE GUIDELINES FOR CONSUMER PROTECTION 2019

Aug. 28, 2019

Union Consumer Affairs Minister announced that Guidelines for e-commerce firms aimed at protecting the consumer interests issued earlier this month would become mandatory under the new Consumer Protection Act.

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.