Ecommerce Players Support Centre’s Move To Make Quality Consumer Review Norms Mandatory

Consensus has emerged among ecommerce platforms over backing the Centre’s proposal to make compliance mandatory with the quality norms for consumer reviews.

At a meeting on Wednesday (May 15), representatives of major ecommerce players and tech giants such as Flipkart, Amazon, Google, and Meta endorsed a proposal that called for making compliance with standards on “online consumer reviews”, released in 2022, compulsory.

The developments came to pass during a stakeholder consultation organised by the Department of Consumer Affairs in New Delhi on protection of consumer interest from online fake reviews. 

Chaired by consumer affairs secretary Nidhi Khare, the meeting was also attended by representatives of industry bodies, consumer organisations, law experts, and activists.

In a statement, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs said that a draft Quality Control Order (QCO) will be placed for public feedback within a prescribed time frame. Prior to this, all stakeholders discussed and “welcomed” the idea of having a QCO on fake online reviews.

“The discussion on moving towards a Quality Control Order for IS 19000:2022 was welcomed by stakeholders and there was a general consensus among all stakeholders that the issue of fake reviews is important to protect consumer interest while shopping online, and requires to be closely monitored. The Draft Quality Control Order will be placed for public consultation for submitting comments within a prescribed time frame,” the statement added.

Earlier this week, consumer affairs secretary Nidhi Khare pulled up ecommerce platforms, saying fake reviews are rampant on their sites despite the Centre notifying voluntary standards on “online reviews’ in late-2022. 

Khare also hinted about making it mandatory for ecommerce platforms to comply with quality consumer review norms to curb fake reviews.

The department prescribed various quality control measures as part of the framework issued in 2022 to safeguard consumers’ interest by cracking down on deceptive reviews on ecommerce portals. The standards specified responsibilities for the review author and the review administrator. 

However, adherence to these norms was voluntary and not mandatory. However, the Centre now wants to make compliance with these norms mandatory to protect “consumer interest”.

For context, ecommerce-related grievances registered on the National Consumer Helpline (NCH) surged 366% between 2018 to 2023. As per government data, the complaints increased from 95,270 in 2018 to 4.44 Lakh (43% of total) in 2023. 

The latest move is part of the efforts undertaken by the government to protect the interests of online consumers. In December last year, the Department of Consumer Affairs issued guidelines on dark patterns and warned ecommerce platforms against using such deceptive practices in their user interface. 

This is not the first time that ecommerce platforms have landed in the crosshairs of authorities. Earlier this year, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) reportedly directed quick commerce platforms to prove their ‘10 minute’ delivery claims. Not just this, Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal have also received notices from the consumer protection body for selling substandard toys.