Minister for Consumer Affairs, Ram Vilas Paswan said, the new E-commerce guidelines to come by this year end, will become mandatory for the firms dabbling in online business once the rules are framed for the recently passed Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
The Minister, said in a meeting of Members of Parliament who participated in the discussions on the Act in Parliament as well as other experts to brainstorm on the proposed rules, said, the Ministry is planning to invite suggestions on the rules by September 15 and the rules would be notified by December.
The e-commerce rules have become important because of the explosive growth being witnessed by the sector due to the increase in the number of online users, growing penetration of smartphones and the rising popularity of social media platforms. Apart from healthcare, education, banking and electricity are also under the ambit of the Act.
The meeting also discussed the e-commerce at length. As oer the discussion held in the meeting, “The (e-commerce) guidelines, which will be converted to Rules, endeavour to take care of the interests of consumers prior to purchase, at the time of purchase, post-purchase and provide for the grievance redressal mechanism.”
The circulated draft guidelines says , the e-commerce firms have to give a 14-day deadline for refund requests, display details of sellers supplying goods and services on their Websites and moot the procedure to resolve consumer complaints.
The minister further said, all suggestions received within the stipulated time period will be considered within the legal framework while drafting the rules and regulations.
