New Consumer Protection Act comes into force

E-commerce platforms will face heat for unfair practices

New Delhi, July 20: The Consumer Protection Act, 2019, that seeks to set up a regulator to promote, protect and enforce the rights of consumer came into force on Monday with the government notifying rules for its implementation.

The government has notified rules for establishing Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), Central Consumer Protection Council, Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, mediation, product liability, and misleading advertisements, among others, under the Act.

Parliament last year approved 'The Consumer Protection Bill 2019', replacing the 1986 Act. The law seeks to revamp the process of administration and settlement of consumer disputes, with strict penalties, including jail term for adulteration and misleading ads by firms. “The earlier law was time-consuming to provide justice to consumers. The new act has been introduced after many amendments to provide protection to buyers not only from traditional sellers but also from the new e-commerce retailers/platforms,” Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan said.

Rules for implementation of the new law have been notified. However, rules on e-commerce and CCPA will be notified by the weekend and on direct selling will take some more time, the consumer affairs minister added.

Under the e-commerce rules, he said it has been made mandatory for etailers to display details about price, expiry date, return, refund, exchange, warranty and guarantee, delivery and shipment, modes of payment, grievance redressal mechanism, payment methods, the security of payment methods, charge-back options, etc.

They are also required to display 'country of origin' which are necessary for enabling the consumer to make an informed decision at the pre-purchase stage on its platform.

◗ ETAILERS ARE required to display 'country of origin' which are necessary for enabling the consumer to make an informed decision at the pre-purchase stage on its platform