30% Of E-Shoppers Get Fake Products; E-Commerce Portals Will Be Liable For False Claims!

Two very interesting developments have taken place in the nascent e-commerce sector in India: Govt. has announced that the new Consumer Protection Bill will put the blame on e-commerce portals, in case the consumer suffers from false claims or fake products sent by the seller.

And, in a new research, it has been revealed that one out of three products delivered via online shopping is fake.

If we relate this two news, then marketplace based eCommerce portals will need to worry. A lot.

Govt. of India: E-Commerce Portals Will Pay For Fake Claims

A new and reformed Consumer Protection Bill has been approved by the Govt. which is waiting for final approval from Lok Sabha.

As per the amendments made, from now on, e-commerce portals like Amazon, Flipkart and others will be held responsible if the consumers get a fake product, or gets fake claims related with the product they bought.

This means that whatever fraud happens with the end-user, the e-commerce portal will be held liable, and they will need to pay to the customer.

Besides e-commerce portals, other business mediums are also covered.

An official said,

“All transactions for buying goods and services through online means, teleshopping or direct selling or multi-level marketing have also been included in the ambit of the proposed Consumer Protection Act,”

United Consumer Helpline For All Online Portals

Besides, the new and reformed Consumer Protection Bill has approved the formation of a Central Consumer Protection Authority, which will also have a central helpline for reporting any ecommerce fraud.

60 leading e-commerce portals have been roped in to participate in the formation of this central customer grievance platform.

Besides counterfeit products, other issues such as delay in or not providing services, no replacement or repair of defective products, charging for repair under warranty period, non-delivery of products, delivery of defective products, paid-amount not refunded, delivery of wrong product will be also provided by the Central Consumer Protection Authority.

30% Of All E-Commerce Products Fake!

Meanwhile, Velocity MR has conducted a new research, which tells us that one out of three e-commerce products in India are fake.

The study was conducted across Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai, Ahmedabad & Pune, wherein 3000 respondents were asked about their experience of using e-commerce portals.

As per the study, 4-5% of business is lost due to the activity of fraudsters in India, especially in the online niche.

Will Consumer Protection Bill help to stop this menace? Is eCommerce a soft target for scammers? Do let us know by commenting right here!