The Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020 into effect

Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said that Consumer Protection Act, 2019, came into force on Monday and the act would empower consumers and protect their rights. The new rules for electronic retailers, including the mandatory display of ‘country of origin’ on their products, will come into force by the end of this week, Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan said on Monday and emphasised that the entities will face penal action for any non-compliance.
The ‘Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020’ will be applicable to all electronic retailers (e-tailers) registered in India or abroad but offering goods and services to Indian consumers.

“Most rules framed under the Consumer Protection Act 2019 have come into force from today (Monday). However, e-commerce rules will get notified by the end of this week, while rules on direct selling will take some more time” said the Consumer Affairs Minister.

The e-commerce rules are “mandatory in nature” and violation of these will attract penalties as decided by the consumer protection authority and consumer courts as provided under the Act, he added.
According to Consumer Affairs Secretary Leena Nandan, the rules have been finalised after taking inputs from the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), under the aegis of the commerce ministry, so that they do not contravene with the overall e-commerce policy.

E-tailers have to display details about return, refund, exchange, warranty and guarantee, delivery and shipment, modes of payment, and grievance redressal mechanism, and any other similar information that may be required by consumers to make informed decisions. Traders offering goods and services through an e-commerce platform will have to provide the above details to the e-commerce entity to be displayed on its platform or website.

They are also not allowed to manipulate the price of the goods and services offered on their platforms to gain unreasonable profit and discriminate between consumers of the same class or make any arbitrary classification of consumers affecting their rights under the Act.