GOVERNMENT MAKES IT MANDATORY FOR THE E-TAILERS TO DISPLAY THE COUNTRY OF ORIGIN ON ALL PRODUCTS (1)

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e-commerce business in India

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Government Makes It Mandatory For The E-tailers
To Display The Country Of Origin On All Products
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While theres a new nationwide awareness wave
against the products of a specific Asian nation,
a recent move by the Indian government aims at
curbing all those e-tailers who sell their
products without disclosing its country of
origin. In addition to it, they will have to
appoint grievances personnel for addressing
consumer issues. The Food and Consumer Affairs
minister also said that those who e-commerce
stores who fail to meet the norms will be liable
for strict penal action. What Led To The New
Rules? The new consumer protection rules were
well anticipated due to the flooding of the
stores with cheap and inferior quality products.
Sellers used to import such products on
dirt-cheap prices from mass-producing countries
and then re-branded them for final sale through
the e-commerce sites. Let us have a quick look at
all those reasons why the need for strict
regulations arose in the first place
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1. No information about the country of origin and
   import Very often, sellers didnt display the
   country of origin and importer details and
   guarantees related to the authenticity of the
   product. While the selling parties were always on
   the profit-making side, it is the consumers who
   suffer.
2. Opaque return and refund policies While the
   major brands have dedicated return and refund
   policies regarding their products, such policies
   were rare for unpopular products. It is common
   for a customer to end up with an unsatisfactory
   product after investing their money, but when
   they wished for return or a refund, the sellers
   used to turn their backs to them.
3. Anonymous sellers selling unscrupulous goods In
   a few e-commerce businesses in India, many
   sellers used to import bad-quality products and
   sold them under an unknown brand. It was a
   typical case for electronics goods, and mobile
   accessories were among the most faked products on
   e-commerce sites.

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CONSUMER PROTECTION (E-COMMERCE) RULES, 2020 The
three factors discussed above have formed the
baseline of the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce)
Rules, 2020. The consumer affairs ministry has
argued that they are willing to take stringent
actions against the violators as they are
committed to build a healthy environment for
e-commerce retail in the country and protect the
consumers against malpractices of the sellers and
e-commerce business owners.
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• Furthermore, the industry ministry is also
  working upon an e-commerce policy, which is
  expected to focus on the following parameters
• Set of rules to drive the e-commerce industry
  The recent jump in the scale and magnitude of the
  e-commerce industry has given rise to the need
  for a dedicated policy. India has a vast customer
  base for e-commerce businesses, and a
  well-regulated e-commerce policy can solve most
  of the ongoing issues.
• Prevention against malpractices As an industry
  grows in size and value, more people want to
  churn maximum profits from it, while some of them
  also resort to illicit methods to generate more
  profit. With a dedicated e-commerce policy in
  place, the strict penalties will prevent such
  occurrences and keep the environment customer
  friendly.
• Fair opportunities and healthy competition A
  decade ago from now, there were fewer players in
  the e-commerce industry, but the scenario has
  changed now. With dozens of new players in the
  arena, authorities aim to ensure fair
  opportunities for all and stopping predatory
  business practices by the giants.

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WAY FORWARD Prescribing several duties of
sellers on the marketplace, the ministry, in its
official statement said, No seller offering
goods or services through a marketplace
e-commerce entity shall refuse to take back
goods, or withdraw or discontinue services
purchased or agreed to be purchased, or refuse to
refund consideration if paid, if such goods or
services are defective, deficient or spurious, or
if the goods or services are not of the
characteristics or features as advertised or as
agreed to, or if such goods or services are
delivered late from the stated delivery schedule.
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The new set of rules will undoubtedly impact
the e-commerce business in India in a positive
way. The new rules make it mandatory for the
seller to have a written contract with the
respective e-commerce business to initiate a sale
through their platform, and any shortcut
arrangement will be deemed invalid. The grievance
officer will take care of the customer complaints
within 48 hours and redress it within a month of
receiving it. Lastly, the e-commerce entities
will have to take responsibility for the
authenticity of the advertisements of the goods
and services on their website. However, the
updated policy is still only the first step
towards regulating the e-commerce business in
India, as there are still many challenged which
await redressal.
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