The Ministry of Consumer Affairs has notified the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules 2020 (‘Rules’) on July 23, 2020. The Rules have been framed to act against unfair trade practices in e-commerce and to protect the interest of consumers in accordance with Section 94 of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
Scope And Applicability
An e-commerce entity has been defined to mean any person who owns, operates or manages a digital or electronic facility or platform for electronic commerce, but does not include a seller offering his goods or services for sale on a marketplace e-commerce entity. These Rules shall also apply to an e-commerce entity which is not established in India, The Rules provide for the duties and liabilities of e-commerce entities, sellers or marketplace and inventory e-commerce entities.
The Rules Shall Apply To:
- all goods and services bought or sold over digital or electronic network including digital products.
- all models of e-commerce, including marketplace and inventory models of e-commerce.
- all e-commerce retail, including multi-channel single brand retailers in single or multiple formats; and
- all forms of unfair trade practices across all models of e-commerce.
Key Provisions
1.E-commerce entities shall facilitate easy returns, address customer grievances and appoint a grievance offer for customer grievance redressal. The grievance officer has to acknowledge the receipt of any consumer complaint within 48 hours and redress the complaint within one month from the date of receipt.
2.E-commerce entities are also required to provide a ticket number for each complaint lodged, through which the consumer can track the status of the complaint.
3.E-commerce entities should not impose cancellation charges or consumers cancelling orders after confirming purchase, unless e-commerce entities are ready to pay similar charges in case of cancellation of orders from their side.
4.Sellers offering goods and services through a marketplace e-commerce entity will have to provide the below details to the e-commerce entity to be displayed on its platform or website:
- Break-up price of all goods and services offered for sale, viz. delivery charges, postage and handling charges, conveyance charges and the applicable tax;
- All mandatory notices and information provided by applicable laws, and the expiry date of the goods being offered for sale;
- All relevant details about goods and services offered by the seller including country of origin;
- Name and contact details of the grievance offer for consumer grievance redressal.
5.Inventory e-commerce entities shall provide information to its users with respect to, inter alia, return, refund, exchange, warranty and guarantee, delivery and shipment, mode of payment, cost of return shipping and grievance redressal mechanism.