Lok Sabha Question No. 2963 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-08-03
Subject: Online Consumer Harassment Cases
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: Sudarshan Bhagat

## Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution

## Government of India Department of Consumer Affairs

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2963 (OIH)

TO BE ANSWERED ON 03.08.2022

## ONLINE CONSUMER HARASSMENT CASES

2963.  SHRI SUDARSHAN BHAGAT: (OIH)

## Will the Minister of CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION miHkksDrk ekeys] [kk| vkSj lkoZtfud forj.k ea=h be pleased to state:

- (a) whether there has been an increase in online consumer harassment cases during the last five years;
- (b) if so, the details thereof, State-wise; and
- (c) if not, the measures taken by the Government to deal with this situation?

## ANSWER

## miHkksDrk ekeys] [kk| vkSj lkoZtfud forj.k jkT; ea=h (श्री अश्विनी क ु मार चौबे)

## THE MINISTER OF STATE CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION (SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

(a) to (c): Details of consumer disputes related with e-commerce sector received on the National Consumer Helpline during last five years (State-wise) are given at Annexure.

The  Consumer  Protection  (E-commerce)  Rules,  2020,  which  have  been  notified  under  the provisions  of  the  Consumer  Protection  Act,  2019,  are  aimed  at  protecting  consumers  from  unfair  trade practices in e-commerce. They require all e-commerce entities to establish consumer grievance redressal mechanism, appoint a grievance officer for  consumer grievance redressal and display the name, contact details, and designation of such officers on their platform. The grievance officer is required to acknowledge the  receipt  of  any  consumer  complaint  within  forty-eight  hours  and  to  redress  the  complaint  within  one month from the date of receipt of the complaint.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has taken steps for spreading awareness about cyber crimes, issuance of alerts/advisories, capacity building/training of law enforcement personnel/prosecutors/judicial officers, improving cyber forensic facilities etc. The Ministry of Home Affairs has established Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) to provide a framework and eco-system for Law Enforcement Agencies to deal with  the  cyber  crimes  in  a  comprehensive  and  coordinated  manner.  The  Ministry  of  Home  Affairs  has launched the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (www.cybercrime.gov.in), to enable public to report incidents pertaining to all types of cyber crimes, with a special focus on cyber crimes against women and children. A toll-free Helpline number '1930' has been operationalized to get assistance in lodging online cyber complaints. The Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System module has also been launched for immediate reporting of financial frauds by the citizens so as to stop siphoning off fund by the fraudsters. Cyber crime incidents reported on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal are routed automatically to the respective State/UT law enforcement agency based on information furnished by the applicant in the incident report for further handling as per the provisions of law.

## ANNEXURE

## ANNEXURE  REFERRED  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  to  (c)  OF  LOK  SABHA  UNSTARRED QUESTION  NO.  2963  FOR  03.08.2022  REGARDING  ONLINE  CONSUMER  HARASSMENT CASES.

Details of grievances received on National Consumer Helpline related with e-commerce sector (state-wise) received during the last 5 years.

| S.no.   | State                            | Grievance Count   | Grievance Count   | Grievance Count   | Grievance Count   | Grievance Count   |
|---------|----------------------------------|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------|
| S.no.   | State                            | 2017-18           | 2018-19           | 2019-20           | 2020-21           | 2021-22           |
| 1       | A&N ISLANDS                      | 21                | 27                | 15                | 69                | 195               |
| 2       | ANDHRA PRADESH                   | 755               | 1184              | 1749              | 4619              | 6022              |
| 3       | ARUNACHAL PRADESH                | 22                | 35                | 37                | 120               | 323               |
| 4       | ASSAM                            | 693               | 765               | 893               | 2340              | 2445              |
| 5       | BIHAR                            | 2086              | 2828              | 3950              | 8625              | 11515             |
| 6       | CHANDIGARH                       | 270               | 371               | 430               | 559               | 588               |
| 7       | CHHATTISGARH                     | 633               | 886               | 1090              | 1665              | 1907              |
| 8       | DADRA &NAGAR HAVELI &DAMAN & DIU | 48                | 36                | 63                | 96                | 93                |
| 9       | DELHI                            | 7704              | 8692              | 10046             | 14550             | 14661             |
| 10      | GOA                              | 168               | 168               | 218               | 444               | 416               |
| 11      | GUJARAT                          | 3394              | 4406              | 5388              | 8372              | 9240              |
| 12      | HARYANA                          | 3618              | 4568              | 5428              | 8514              | 9371              |
| 13      | HIMACHAL PRADESH                 | 399               | 440               | 666               | 1204              | 1281              |
| 14      | JAMMU &KASHMIR                   | 528               | 711               | 616               | 1348              | 1534              |
| 15      | JHARKHAND                        | 871               | 1138              | 1338              | 2895              | 3618              |
| 16      | KARNATAKA                        | 4857              | 5903              | 6602              | 10156             | 9975              |
| 17      | KERALA                           | 711               | 1123              | 1288              | 3667              | 5225              |
| 18      | LADAKH                           | -                 | -                 | 1                 | 24                | 34                |
| 19      | LAKSHADWEEP                      | -                 | -                 | 2                 | 1                 | 1                 |
| 20      | MADHYAPRADESH                    | 2834              | 4058              | 4735              | 6592              | 8976              |
| 21      | MAHARASHTRA                      | 7995              | 10180             | 11800             | 18560             | 18799             |
| 22      | MANIPUR                          | 31                | 35                | 33                | 106               | 103               |
| 23      | MEGHALAYA                        | 47                | 59                | 60                | 163               | 143               |
| 24      | MIZORAM                          | 12                | 13                | 12                | 36                | 26                |
| 25      | NAGALAND                         | 24                | 25                | 21                | 97                | 82                |
| 26      | ODISHA                           | 949               | 1231              | 1612              | 3229              | 4417              |
| 27      | PUDUCHERRY                       | 40                | 33                | 54                | 101               | 119               |
| 28      | PUNJAB                           | 1414              | 1715              | 2148              | 3563              | 3972              |
| 29      | RAJASTHAN                        | 3356              | 4777              | 6056              | 9851              | 15620             |
| 30      | SIKKIM                           | 39                | 49                | 72                | 107               | 94                |
| 31      | TAMIL NADU                       | 1410              | 1626              | 2008              | 4805              | 4850              |
| 32      | TELANGANA                        | 1841              | 2527              | 3720              | 6375              | 7127              |
| 33      | TRIPURA                          | 115               | 123               | 180               | 343               | 380               |
| 34      | UTTAR PRADESH                    | 7076              | 9824              | 11576             | 21130             | 25484             |
| 35      | UTTARAKHAND                      | 638               | 906               | 1090              | 2260              | 2260              |
| 36      | WEST BENGAL                      | 4803              | 6108              | 7493              | 10988             | 12954             |
| TOTAL   | TOTAL                            | 59402             | 76570             | 92490             | 157574            | 183850            |

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