MRP, other details must for items sold online: Ministry

To protect online consumers, the government has made it mandatory, from Monday, for e-commerce firms to print not only the maximum retail price (MRP) on goods but also information like expiry date and customer care details. The Consumer Affairs Ministry had made the amendments in this regard to the Legal Metrology (packaged commodities) Rules in June 2017. The companies were given a six-month deadline to comply with the new rule. "Amendment made in the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011 to safeguard the interest of consumers and ease of doing business will come into force with effect from January 1, 2018," the Ministry said in a statement.

As per the amendments, goods displayed by the seller on e-commerce platform should contain declarations required under the rules. Along with the MRP, the companies have to display the manufacturing date, expiry date, net quantity, country of origin and consumer care details on the label. "Size of letters and numerals for making declaration is increased, so that consumer can easily read the same," the Ministry statement said.

Specific mention is made in the rules that no person should declare different maximum retail prices (dual MRP) on an identical prepackaged commodity, it added. Besides, the government has made the net quantity checking more scientific, while bar code/QR coding has been allowed on a voluntarily basis. Medical devices, which are declared as drugs, are brought into the purview of declarations to be made under the rules, the Ministry’s statement added.

At present, only the maximum retail price is printed on the goods sold online. The changes come in the backdrop of e-marketplaces posing new and complex consumer protection issues with the Ministry receiving several complaints as regard to information deficit on online products /goods. Flipkart, Amazon India, Snapdeal, Grofers and Bigbasket are some of the leading e-marketplaces entities operating in the country.

According to a report in The Economic Times (ET), many discrepancies were found in the actual MRPs and those displayed on the websites. The report quoted a survey by LocalCircles India, which showed that 41 percent of 10,000 online shoppers had reported witnessing inflated maximum retail prices and fake discounts. "The new rules will help in realistic price disclosures, and fake discounts will also vanish from online platforms," Yatish Rajawat, chief strategy officer, LocalCircles, told the ET. But concerns about e-tailers ability to roll out the changes remain.