Directions for
Ecommerce entities under new Consumer Protection act 2019
उपभोक्ताओ के
लिए ऑन लाइन खरीददारी का अब स्वर्णिम युग
A ) Problems faced by the consumers-
1.
Order
cancelled without information
2.
Price
hike after order
3.
Different
item delivered
4.
Defective
item deliverd
5.
Cancellation
charges asked for
6.
Non-delivery
/late delivery
7.
Non-refund
of payment
8.
No
after sale services
9.
Website
disappears after money sent
B) Available law
for E-commerce
·
Indian
Technology act 2000 recognises online purchases. Section 10A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 ("IT
Act") provides validity to e-contracts The Supreme Court in Trimex International FZE Ltd.
Dubai v. Vedanta Aluminum Ltd. has held that e-mails exchanges
between parties regarding mutual obligations constitute a contract
·
RESERVE BANK OF INDIA
by issuing various circulars regarding online banking and money
transfer activities have made consumers
capable of securing the online
space
·
CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT
C) What is
E-Commerce entity
·
"e-commerce entity" means any person (whether natural
or juridical) who owns, operates or manages a digital or electronic facility or
platform for electronic commerce,
·
Inventory e-commerce entity -When the seller decides to list its product on an inventory e-commerce
entity's platform, it authorizes the entity to assume ownership and control of
the goods for the purposes of delivery to the consumer. An inventory e-commerce
entity, thus, assumes control over the goods only after the seller so authorizes
it for the purpose of effecting Examples of such e-commerce entities include
eBay, OLX, Naaptol, etc
·
Marketplace
e-commerce entity: an e-commerce entity which provides
an electronic platform to facilitate transactions between buyers and sellers[2].
Traditionally, marketplace e-commerce worked on zero inventory model. The e-commerce entity acts as a mere facilitator of transactions and
exchange of information between buyer and seller. Examples of such entities
include Amazon and Flipkart
D)
Obligations set for e commerce entities under new act –
1. Must
display its legal name,
address of its headquarters and all branches; website;Contact details
2.
The
entity must provide information relating to return, refund, exchange, warranty
and guarantee, delivery and shipment, grievance redressal mechanism, ticket
number for each complaint lodged to track its status and any other similar
information;
3.
The
entity must also provide available modes of payment and their security,
procedure to cancel payments, applicable fees and charges, charge back option
and contact information of the relevant payment service provider
4.
Details
of grievance redressal
system, grievance officer and formula of attending complaint- must acknowledge receipt of any consumer
complaint within 48 hours and must redress it within 1 month from the date of
receipt of such complaint
5.
No cancellation
charges shall be levied by the e-commerce entity on its consumer unless
such a charge is to be borne by the entity itself after cancellation of the
purchase
6.
An
e-commerce entity or seller cannot indulge in any "unfair trade
practice" either in the course of its business or otherwise- false
statements False representation misleading statement etc
7.
No e-commerce
entity is allowed to manipulate the price of goods or services offered
on its platform so as to gain unreasonable profit from the consumers where
prices of goods are inflated over their Maximum Retail Price ('MRP') and then
offered at "heavy discounts" to consumers to make the purchase seem
more attractive.
8.
Product Liability
-If an entity "in the course of business, imports, sells,
distributes, leases, installs, prepares, packages, labels, markets, repairs,
maintains, or otherwise is involved in placing such product for commercial
purposes" and is not a provider of professional services where
the sale of the product is incidental to such services, primary responsibility
for any practice detrimental to the consumer interest
9.
The seller shall
not refuse to take back goods or discontinue services or refuse to refund
consideration paid, if such goods/services are defective, deficient, spurious
or not of a character as represented by it
Still
some questions on self-determined price
·
Self-motivated
pricing model adopted by e-commerce entities Uber's pricing model, wherein the
consumer has to accept a fixed price for the cab services offered by these
e-commerce entities
·
When one opts to
buy a product from Amazon/Flipkart or wishes to purchase flight tickets. The
prices under this model are changed in different times
Note- Would not be indicative of foul practices
since it operates on the economics of demand and supply
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