Consumer Affairs: Screws on e-commerce companies misleading by fake reviews, officials summoned today

The government is preparing to crack down on e-commerce companies that mislead customers by giving fake reviews. The Consumer Affairs Ministry summoned the officials of the companies on Friday. The meeting of officials with the Ministry Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) will discuss how e-commerce companies buy online products and review services on their platforms.

Based on this review, it is seen how the customers get ready to buy. After discussing at the level of review in the meeting, a decision can be taken on planning. Experts say that the government can also take action against e-commerce companies if found guilty in the review.

Flipkart, Amazon, and Reliance also

Major companies whose executives have been called in this meeting include Flipkart, Amazon, Tata Sons, Reliance Retail, etc. Discussions will be held in the meeting as to how to stop the misguiding of customers by doing such a review. Its impact on the customers will also be seen.

The government also got 223 websites reviewed

Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh said, “We have also got 223 major e-commerce websites reviewed. It found that 55 percent of the websites violate the European Union's rules of buying and selling. In the case of 144 websites, the authorities were also unable to verify that they were making any effort to make the merchant reviews authentic.

Law will be made based on discussion with them

The consumer affairs secretary said consumer forums, law universities, lawyers, FICCI, CII, and other customer rights activists have also been called. These fake reviews and misleading information is a violation of consumer rights under the Consumer Protection Act-2019. Considering the boom in online shopping, it is necessary to investigate these matters in detail.

Also Read: The government gave relief: Ban on sugar export to curb inflation, tax exemption on import of edible oil