Etailers should display details of sellers clearly on their platform: CCPA

Etailers should display details of sellers like their name as well as address and contact information of the grievance officer in a clear and accessible manner in the interest of consumers amid rise in online shopping during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Consumer Protection regulator CCPA.

An advisory in this regard has been issued to all states and industry associates by the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) which has come to its notice that "some marketplace e-commerce entities are not displaying details of sellers" as per the Consumer Protection (e-commerce) Rules, 2020.

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As per the Rule 5(3)(e) of the Consumer Protection (e-commerce) Rules, 2020, every marketplace e-commerce entity is required to provide in a clear and accessible manner all information provided to it by sellers including name and contact numbers as well as designation of the grievance officer for redressal or for reporting any other matter.

CCPA Commissioner Anupam Mishra said, "... Any person found violating the above rules may face action under the Act, if after investigation, the Central Authority has reason to believe that the practices are found unfair and prejudicial to consumers' interest."

Industry associates should impress upon their members to ensure compliance of the rules to ensure adequate redressal mechanism is accessible to consumers while purchasing goods or services through ecommerce platform, he added in the advisory.

According to CCPA, more consumers in India are choosing e-commerce as a medium to purchase goods and services during the pandemic owing to safety measures and movement restrictions.

As a result, consumer complaints have also gone up against etailers.

During the April-July period of this fiscal, National Consumer Helpline (NCH) received 69,208 complaints against the e-commerce sector, the maximum when compared to other sectors like banking and telecom, the government data showed.