The Union Government has proposed to draft new E-Commerce rules in consultation with experts to help small businesses to grow while keeping in mind the interests of consumers, experts opined at a webinar on “All stakeholders’ Interactive Session on the proposed New E-Commerce Rules.”
The Webinar was organized by PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Prof Bejon Kumar Misra, Chairman, Consumer Affairs, said that rules are being drafted by the government to help small businesses to grow, to protect the interests of consumers, and to abolish unethical practices in the e-commerce business.
The purpose of the draft policy is to prevent unfair trade practices in e-commerce, he added.
Mr. Divyanshu Tambe, Executive Director, EY, deliberated that e-commerce has provided a lot of convenience to the consumers and grown phenomenally. There the 12 points in the new policy and the most important points are fall back liability and manipulation on search results to promote certain sellers, preferential treatment to some sellers, indirectly operating the sellers on their platform, impinging the free choice of consumers, selling goods close to expiration, etc.
“The draft rules are good but the enforcement seems tough. Huge data and confirmations are required to find out the implication of compliance. The policies should be more defined and well organized, he opined.
Mr. Harshvardhan Chauhaan, VP, Marketing & Omnichannel – Spencer’s Retail & Nature’s Basket, said that in order to protect the interests of consumers and encourage free and fair competition the laws have been drafted. He further dwelt upon the 12 key points under the newly drafted rules ie. Flash sales, not conventional sales, displays of promotion, country of origin, Cancellation charges and fall back liabilities, etc. Equal opportunities should be given to all sellers keeping consumer interests on priority, Mr Chauhaan added.
Ms. Meghna Sankhla, eminent lawyer, in her address, said that that the new draft policy made consumers’ life easy as now they would be encouraged to go to the local redressal body for any disputes. Consumer welfare fund belongs to the consumers so it should be used to solve their issues. There should be loophole management while redressing the consumers’ issues so that it directly gets resolved, she opined.
Mr. Praveen Khandelwal, Secretary-General, Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT);opined that rules are required to set the standards of ethical practices at all levels. He thanked the Government for bringing the draft rules under the Consumer Protection Act as this was pending for a long period. Such measures are needed for creating a level playing field.
He further said that CAIT is not against the rules but against unethical practices and preferential selling. The rules will bring the standard practices and set a benchmark for global e-commerce business practices.
Dr. HP Kumar, Former CMD, NSIC & Advisor MSME, PHD Chamber, said the consumer interest is prime and supreme. The rules should be such that they should not affect MSMEs. The big companies may not get affected but small retailers and unorganized companies are still struggling to come under e-commerce eco-system.
