The Centre on Monday proposed several changes to the e-commerce rules to rein in cheating, unfair trade practices and bring more transparency to the ecosystem. The proposed changes to the Consumer Protection (E-commerce) Rules, 2020, include a ban on certain flash sales, appointment of a chief compliance officer, among others, as per a statement issued by the Food and Consumer Affairs Ministry.

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It has sought views and suggestions on the proposed changes by July 6.

What are the changes proposed?

*     On flash sales

Proposing a ban on certain flash sales, the ministry said, “Certain e-commerce entities are engaging in limiting consumer choice…wherein one seller selling on platform does not carry any inventory or order fulfillment capability but merely places a ‘flash or back-to-back’ order with another seller controlled by platform.”

“This prevents a level playing field and ultimately limits customer choice and increases prices,” it added.

The Centre has, however, clarified that conventional flash sales by third-party sellers will not be banned.

*     Nodal officers 

In a bid to strengthen the grievance redressal mechanism, the government has proposed the appointment of Chief Compliance Officers. These will be nodal contact officers for 24×7 coordination with law enforcement agencies to ensure compliance of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.

*     Registration of e-commerce companies

The Centre has proposed registration of every e-commerce entity. The allotted registration number will be displayed on the company’s website and  invoice of every order.

This, as per the government, “would help create a database of genuine entities and ensure that consumers are able to verify its genuineness before transacting.”

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*     Fall-back liability

For cases when a seller is unable to deliver goods and services due to negligent conduct, there is a provision of fall-back liability for every e-commerce entity.

Also, mis-selling, which is selling goods and services by deliberate misrepresentation of information, has been prohibited, the ministry said.