Displaying country of origin made mandatory for e-tailers

NEWDELHI: The Consumer Protection Act , 2019, which came into force from July 20, 2020, has brought in a new regulatory framework for e-commerce in the country, requiring online platforms to display the country of origin of items sold, apart from new rules that will enforce product liability for the first time.

Rules framed under the Consumer Protection Act , 2019, covering aggregators, such as Amazon, or inventory-led models where retailers own and sell the stocks, are now required by law to specify the country where a product is made or assembled.

According to the new rules, any seller, whether online or offline, will be subject to “product liability”. This means that a product manufacturer or seller will have to compensate for “any harm caused to a consumer” because of “defective products” manufactured or sold.

Every online entity must also provide pre-purchase information related to return, refund, exchange, warranty and guarantee and delivery of shipments.

“These rules are necessary for enabling the consumer to make an informed decision at the prepurchase stage on an online platform,” said consumer affairs minister Ram Vilas Paswan .

Paswan said the new law considerably increases “transparency and choices” to empower consumers. The e-commerce rules will apply to all electronic retailers offering goods and services, whether registered in India or abroad, Paswan said.

E-commerce platforms have to acknowledge the receipt of any complaint from a consumer within 48 hours and redress the complaint within a month.

Under this Act, the Central Consumer Protection Authority will be empowered to probe violations of consumer rights and institute complaint and order recall of unsafe goods and services. The new Act enables a consumer to file complaints electronically in consumer commissions, which can have videoconferencing for hearing.

According to the Act, an Alternate Dispute Resolution mechanism of Mediation will simplify the adjudication process. A complaint will be referred by a Consumer Commission for mediation when there is a scope for early settlement and if parties agree for it. Mediation will be held in mediation cells under consumer commissions. There will be no appeal against settlement through mediation.

Sriram Panchu, a Chennaibased lawyer, who specialises in mediation, said the provision of mediation under the new law is fit for cases where damages are payable in monetary terms.

NEW DELHI: The central government’s e-governance feedback initiative, Mygov, is now likely to be extended right up to the panchayat level to help improve local participative governance.

Mygov platform provides an opportunity to citizens and all stakeholders from across the world to share their views on key governance issues across all stages by directly engaging with the government departments, policy makers and implementers.

Speaking at the eve of the completion of six years of Mygov, which was launched on July 26, 2014, information technology (IT) minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Sunday commended the efforts of the team involved with Mygov in improving participative governance across the country.

“The Mygov movement must go forward,” Prasad said. “12 states have already joined it. It represents a model of participative governance that must reach the gram panchayat level.” He added that the intiative should act as a be catalyst for giving a platform to the most talented minds to share their ideas.

Mygov also launched the Saathi Chatbot this April, in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, that allows people to provide inputs and solutions to the government, thereby participate in policymaking. The chatbot also answers any queries people have with regard to the Covid-19 pandemic. Mygov also has state intiatives, which provides access to the e-governance initiative in local languages, 12 states. These include Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Officials in the ministry said that they are also ready to launch chapters in nine other states, once the chief ministers inaugurate the same.

The next phase will include Kerala, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Puducherry, Goa, Andhra Pradesh and Daman and Diu.