Lok Sabha Question No. 361 (STARRED), answered on 2026-03-18
Subject: Protection of Rights of Consumers in e-Commerce
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: Shri N K Premachandran

## Government of India

## Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Department of Consumer Affairs

## LOK SABHA

## STARRED QUESTION NO. *361

TO BE ANSWERED ON 18.03.2026

## PROTECTION OF RIGHTS OF CONSUMERS IN E-COMMERCE

*361. SHRI N K PREMACHANDRAN:

## Will  the  MINISTER  OF  CONSUMER  AFFAIRS,  FOOD  AND  PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has initiated any action to protect the rights of consumers in e-commerce and if so, the details thereof;

- (b) whether the Government has initiated any action to protect the rights of consumers from delivery of damaged, duplicate, low quality and counterfeit branded items and if so, the details of action taken thereon;

- (c) whether the Government has initiated any action to monitor the efficiency of toll free numbers and if so, the details of action taken thereon;

- (d) whether the Government has initiated any action to ensure that the toll free numbers provided by various companies are providing service to the consumers in a time bound manner and if so, the details thereof; and

- (e) whether  the  Government  proposes  to  ensure  that  the  toll  free  numbers  is  given  for  complaint registration  with  timeframe  to  ensure  service  within  the  reasonable  time  and  if  so,  the  details  of action taken thereon?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION (SHRI PRALHAD JOSHI)

(a) to (e)  :   A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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## STATEMENT  REFERRED  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (e)  OF  LOK  SABHA  STARRED QUESTION NO.*361 FOR 18.03.2026 REGARDING PROTECTION OF RIGHTS OF CONSUMERS IN E-COMMERCE :

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Department  of  Consumer  Affairs  is  continuously  working  for  protection  and  empowerment  of consumers by enactment of progressive legislations. With a view to modernize the framework governing consumer  protection  in  the  era  of  globalization,  technologies,  e-commerce  markets  etc.,  the  Consumer Protection Act, 2019 was enacted.

Salient  features  of  the  Consumer  Protection  Act,  2019  are  establishment of  a  Central  Consumer Protection  Authority(CCPA);  simplification  of  the  adjudication  process  in  the  Consumer  Commissions such as enhancing pecuniary jurisdiction of the Consumer Commissions, online filing of complaint from the  Consumer  Commission  having  jurisdiction  over  the  place  of  work/residence  of  the  consumer irrespective of the place of transaction, videoconferencing for hearing, deemed  admissibility of complaints, if admissibility is not decided within 21 days of filing; provision of product liability; provision for making rules for prevention of unfair trade practice in e-commerce and direct selling.

The National Consumer Helpline (NCH) administered by the Department of Consumer Affairs has emerged as a single point of access to consumers across the country for their grievance redressal at a prelitigation stage for violation of rights of consumers, misleading advertisements and unfair trade practices. Consumers  can  register  their  grievances  from  all  over  the  country  in  17  languages  including  Hindi, English,  Kashmiri,  Punjabi,  Nepali,  Gujarati,  Marathi,  Kannada,  Telugu,  Tamil,  Malayalam,  Maithili, Santhali, Bengali, Odia, Assamese and Manipuri through a toll-free number 1915. These grievances can be registered on Integrated Grievance Redressal Mechanism (INGRAM), an omni-channel IT enabled central portal, through various channels- WhatsApp (8800001915), SMS (8800001915), email (nch-ca@gov.in), the  NCH  app,  the  web  portal  (consumerhelpline.gov.in)  and  the  Umang  app,  as  per  their  convenience. 1,398  companies,  who  have  voluntarily  partnered  with  NCH  as  part  of  the  'Convergence'  programme directly  respond  to  these  grievances  according  to  their  redressal  process  and  revert  by  providing  a feedback to the complainant on the portal.

The technological transformation of the NCH has significantly boosted its call-handling capacity. The number of calls received by NCH has grown from 62,172 calls in December 2019 to 3,59,336 calls in December 2025. This growth reflects the rising confidence of consumers in the helpline. Similarly, the average number of complaints registered per month has surged from 37,062 in 2017 to 1,47,635 in 2025. Additionally,  grievance  registration  via  WhatsApp  has  gained  momentum,  with  the  percentage  of complaints filed through the platform increasing from 12% in December 2023 to 21% in December 2025 demonstrating a growing preference for digital communication channels.

In a significant move to further enhance grievance redressal, NCH has introduced AI-based Speech Recognition, a Translation System, and an AI enabled Chatbot as part of the NCH 2.0 initiative. These technological  advancements  aim  to  make  the  grievance  filing  process  more  seamless,  efficient,  and inclusive.  The  AI-powered  Speech  Recognition  and  Translation  System  enables  consumers  to  file complaints through voice input, reducing manual intervention. The AI enabled Chatbot provides real-time assistance, streamlining complaint-handling processes, and improving the overall user experience. These upgrades ensure that consumers from diverse linguistic backgrounds have equal access to the grievance redressal system at no cost.

National Consumer Helpline has put in place a mechanism to address all the grievances received on  the  Helpline  portal  which  is  hassle  free,  inexpensive  and  without  intermediaries.    The  average grievance disposal time for grievances received through CPGRAMS in 2025 was 13 days, compared to 18 days in 2024.

The  National  Consumer  Helpline  (NCH)  has  successfully  facilitated  refund  of  ₹52  crore  to consumers between 25th April 2025 and 31st January 2026. This significant redressal at a pre-litigation stage was achieved across 31 sectors (including 36.80 Crores with regard to the grievances pertaining to ecommerce sector), effectively addressing 79,521 consumer grievances related to refund claims.

During the last three years, the grievances registered on National Consumer Helpline (NCH) in ecommerce sector are as follows:

|   S. No. |   Year | Registered   |
|----------|--------|--------------|
|        1 |   2023 | 4,46,133     |
|        2 |   2024 | 4,40,187     |
|        3 |   2025 | 5,11,196     |

NCH has put in place a mechanism to address all the grievances received on the helpline portal.

The Department has notified the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020 on 23 July 2020 under the  Consumer Protection Act,  2019  to  safeguard  consumers  from  unfair  trade  practices  in  the  ecommerce sector. These Rules specify the duties of e-commerce entities, liabilities of marketplace entities, responsibilities of sellers on marketplaces and duties of inventory-based e-commerce entities.

Under  these  Rules,  e-commerce  entities  are  required  to  appoint  a  Grievance  Officer  and prominently  display  the  name,  designation  and  contact  details  of  the  officer  on  their  platform.  The grievance officer must acknowledge consumer complaints within 48 hours and redress them within one month from the date of receipt of the complaint. E-commerce entities are also required to endeavour to become partners in the convergence process of the National Consumer Helpline (NCH) and are prohibited from  discriminating  between  consumers  of  the  same  class  or  manipulating  prices  to  gain  unreasonable profits.

Marketplace  e-commerce  entities  are  required  to  obtain  undertakings  from  sellers  ensuring  that product descriptions, images and other content correspond accurately with the appearance, nature, quality and features of the goods or services. They must prominently publish details of sellers including business name,  geographic  address,  customer  care  contact  details,  ratings  and  feedback  along  with  complete information  regarding  return,  refund,  exchange,  warranty,  delivery,  payment  modes  and  grievance redressal mechanisms. Sellers are also required to ensure that advertisements are consistent with the actual characteristics  and  usage  conditions  of  goods  or  services  and  are  prohibited  from  posting  misleading reviews or misrepresenting product features.

Under  the  provisions  of  the  Consumer  Protection  Act,  2019,  the  Central  Consumer  Protection Authority (CCPA), an executive agency, came into existence on 24.07.2020. It is designed to intervene, to prevent  consumer  detriment  arising  from  violation  of  rights  of  consumers,  misleading  advertisements, unfair trade practices etc. and to initiate class action(s), including the enforcement of recalls, refunds and return  of  products.  As  on  09.03.2026,  CCPA  has  issued  477  notices  of  class  action,  imposed  penalties amounting to ₹3,00,40,500, and closed 177 cases with receipt of penalties of ₹1,56,10,500.

CCPA has taken action against several entities for violation of consumer rights and unfair trade practices in the e-commerce sector. Such actions include withdrawal of misleading advertisements relating to  certain  low-quality  products  marketed  through  online  platforms,  recall  of  products  being  sold  in violation  of  mandatory  quality  standards  and  Quality  Control  Orders.  Penal  action  has  also  been  taken against entities for sale of products bearing spurious certification marks and misleading claims.

CCPA has taken action against the sale of domestic pressure cookers that do not meet compulsory BIS  standards  on  e-commerce  platforms.  CCPA,  for  safeguarding  consumer  interests  and  their  safety, issued  directions  to  e-commerce  platforms  and  their  sellers  to  recall  total  5507  non-ISI  mark  domestic pressure cookers sold by them. CCPA also directed sellers of e-commerce platforms to recall 818 toys and also  imposed  penalties  for  the  toys  which  were  being  sold  on  e-commerce  platforms  in  violation  to mandatory standards and QCO notified for toys.

Based  on  grievances  received  through  the  National  Consumer  Helpline,  CCPA  has  examined instances where grievance redressal mechanisms including customer care numbers or details of grievance officers  were  not  prominently  displayed  by  certain  entities.  Appropriate  action  has  been  taken  and corrective  measures  implemented  by  such  entities  to  strengthen  grievance  redressal  mechanisms  and ensure availability of contact details for consumers.

Subsequent to action taken by CCPA, several e commerce entities and direct selling companies further strengthened their grievance redressal mechanism such as giving names of the grievance  officers, nodal officers, contact details etc.

In  addition,  CCPA has issued Safety Notices under Section 18(2)(j) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 cautioning consumers against purchase of goods not conforming to mandatory safety standards which  includes  helmets,  pressure  cookers,  cooking  gas  cylinders  and  certain  household  electrical appliances.

CCPA has issued an advisory dated 30th September, 2021 in terms of the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce)  Rules,  2020  regarding  display  of  information  provided  by  sellers  on  marketplace  ecommerce platforms. The advisory, inter-alia, provides for ensuring that marketplace e-commerce entities display in a clear and accessible manner all relevant information furnished by sellers on their platforms, including details of the seller and grievance officer, so as to safeguard consumer interests and facilitate effective grievance redressal for consumers purchasing goods or services through e-commerce.

CCPA issued an advisory dated 14.07.2022 to e-commerce platforms regarding the online sale of certain  Ayurvedic,  Siddha  and  Unani  medicines  that  contain  ingredients  listed  in  Schedule  E(1)  of  the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945 which may include potentially hazardous substances and therefore must be consumed only under medical supervision. Accordingly, e-commerce platforms have been advised to ensure that such drugs are sold only after a valid prescription from a registered Ayurveda, Siddha or Unani practitioner  is  uploaded  by  the  consumer  on  the  platform  to  prevent  unsafe  self-medication  and  protect consumers from potential health risks associated with unsupervised use of such medicines.

CCPA has notified the Guidelines for Prevention of Misleading Advertisements and Endorsements for Misleading Advertisements, 2022 on 9th June, 2022. These guidelines inter-alia provide for conditions for an advertisement to be non-misleading and valid; duties of manufacturer, service provider, advertiser and advertising agency including on e-commerce platforms.

Central Consumer Protection Authority, in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 18 of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, issued 'Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 2023' on 30th November, 2023, listing 13 specified dark patterns identified in e-Commerce sector. These dark patterns  include  false  urgency,  Basket  Sneaking,  Confirm  shaming,  forced  action,  Subscription  trap, Interface Interference, Bait and switch, Drip Pricing, Disguised Advertisements, Nagging, Trick Wording, Saas Billing and Rogue Malwares.

An 'Advisory for Self-Audit by E-Commerce Platforms for detecting the Dark Patterns on their platforms to create a fair, ethical and consumer centric digital ecosystem' was also issued by the CCPA on 5th June, 2025. 29 leading e-commerce platforms have voluntarily submitted their self-declaration letters confirming compliance with the Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 2023.

CCPA has also notified Guidelines for the Prevention and Regulation of Illegal Listing and Sale of Radio Equipment including Walkie Talkies on E-Commerce Platforms, 2025. These guidelines have been notified  to  curb  the  unauthorized  sale  of  wireless  devices  operating  beyond  the  446.0-446.2  MHz frequency band that may pose risks to consumer safety, mislead consumers regarding their legal position and  interfere  with  critical  communication  networks,  including  those  used  by  law  enforcement  and emergency services.  Further,  the  CCPA  action  follows  the  identification  of  over  16,970  non-compliant walkie-talkie listings across platforms and also imposed penalties of ₹10 lakh each on Meesho, Flipkart, Amazon and Meta Platforms Inc, and ₹1 lakh each on Chimiya, JioMart, Talk Pro and MaskMan Toys.

CCPA  has  taken  action  against  the  sale  of  counterfeit  and  substandard  goods  on  a  major  ecommerce  platform  for  promotion  and  sale  of  counterfeit  and  spurious  goods  including  medicines, cosmetics,  beauty  products  and  clothing  items,  misleading  display  of  MRPs  and  discounts  on  branded products, use of misleading labels alongside spurious listings and facilitation of sale of Schedule-H drugs without prescription. The platform was directed to strengthen its due-diligence and monitoring mechanisms.  As  a  result  of  these  regulatory  interventions,  the  platform  instituted  enhanced  internal detection and filtering systems and reported large-scale removal of counterfeit listings from its platform. The company informed that between 04 August 2022 and 05 June 2025, a total of 1,21,31,880 product listings identified as counterfeit were delisted out of 40,19,27,610 listings uploaded, including 69,63,556 counterfeit  listings  removed  during  April  2023-September 2024 and  12,35,469 listings removed during September 2024-May 2025.

From  2020  till date, 997 notices have been issued by Legal Metrology, for violations of the Legal Metrology  (Packaged  Commodities)  Rules,  2011,  regarding  non  declaration  of  mandatory  information such  as  country  of  origin,  MRP,  net  quantity  etc.  resulting  in  compounding    of  Rs.  1.03  Crore  under Section  48  of  the  Legal  Metrology  Act,  2009.  These  notices  also  include  sale  of  unverified  weighing scales/instruments on e-commerce platforms.

Aligned with global best practices, 'Safety Pledge' has been finalized, in consultation with all the stakeholders, which is a voluntary public commitment of e-Commerce platforms to ensure the safety of goods  sold  online.  This  initiative  strengthens  consumer  protection  in  the  e-commerce.  Various  eCommerce companies viz. Tata Digital, Tata 1mg, BigBasket, Tata Cliq, Chroma, Swiggy, Ola, Zomato, Ajio, JioMart, Netmeds, Meesho etc. have signed the Safety Pledge for ensuring consumer safety.

The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has notified framework on 'Online Consumer Reviews Principles  and  Requirements  for  their  Collection,  Moderation  and  Publication'  on  23.11.2022  for safeguarding  and  protecting  consumer  interest  from  fake  and  deceptive  reviews  in  e-commerce.  The standards are voluntary and are applicable to every online platform which publishes consumer reviews. The guiding principles of the standard are integrity, accuracy, privacy, security, transparency, accessibility and responsiveness.

To protect the rights of consumers, the Central Government has mandated BIS certification for 635 products.  Such products cannot be manufactured, sold, imported, stored or exhibited for sale without a valid BIS certification. Certification is granted after testing the conformity of products with the relevant Indian  Standards.  During  the  past  two  years,  BIS  has  tested  209  samples  purchased  from  e-commerce platforms to verify their conformity with the relevant Indian Standards. Out of these, 144 samples were found conforming to the Indian Standards.

During the past two years, BIS has conducted 79 search and seizure operations at the premises of e-commerce  warehouses,  sellers  operating  on  e-commerce  platforms  viz.  Amazon,  BigBasket,  Blinkit, Flipkart,  Meesho  and  Myntra.  These  operations  have  been  carried  out  across  various  States  including Andhra  Pradesh,  Delhi,  Gujarat,  Haryana,  Karnataka,  Kerala,  Madhya  Pradesh,  Maharashtra,  Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

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