E-commerce sites under Govt scanner over fake reviews

'Since the issue impacts people shopping online on a daily basis and has a significant impact on their rights as a consumer, it is important that it is examined with greater scrutiny and detail,' the Department of Consumer Affairs has said.

E-Commerce platforms which mislead consumers into buying online services or products using fake reviews have come under the radar of the Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA). 

In this regard, the DoCA will hold a virtual meeting on Friday with the Advertising Standards Council of India along with various stakeholders. E-Commerce entities like Amazon, Flipkart, Reliance Retail, Tata Sons and others will join the meeting. Also present would be Consumer Forums, Law Universities, Lawyers, FICCI, CII, Consumer Rights Activists, etc. 

The discussions will be broadly centred around the impact of fake and misleading reviews on consumers and possible measures to prevent such anomalies. 

While calling the stakeholders for a meeting, DoCA Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh mentioned a media statement issued by the European Commission in January this year which gave details of screening across the European Union on online consumer reviews on 223 major websites. 

The results showed that at least 55% of the websites violated the unfair commercial practices listed by the European Union that require truthful information to be provided to consumers to make an informed choice. 

Also, in 144 out of the 223 websites assessed, the authorities could not confirm that traders were doing enough to ensure that reviews were authentic or posted by consumers who had actually used the product or service that was reviewed.

The letter says, 'It is relevant to mention that with growing Internet and smartphone use, consumers are increasingly shopping online to purchase goods and services. Consumers heavily rely on reviews posted on e-commerce platforms given that e-commerce involves a virtual shopping experience without any opportunity to physically view or examine the product. Customers see reviews to see the opinion and experiences of users who have already purchased the goods or service. As a result, due to fake and misleading reviews, the right to be informed, which is a consumer right under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 is violated.'

'Since the issue impacts people shopping online on a daily basis and has a significant impact on their rights as a consumer, it is important that it is examined with greater scrutiny and detail,' the letter further states.