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Govt Releases Draft Standards for E-commerce Transactions including Returns, Refunds and Counterfeit Goods
Moneylife Digital Team 21 January 2025
Investor Interest
Taking note of the LocalCircles’ escalation last week on the challenges consumers in India face with online returns, refunds and counterfeit goods and released standards for e-commerce transactions, the Union government has released draft standards for public consultation covering key issues.
 
The draft Indian Standard titled "E-Commerce Principles and Guidelines for SelfGovernance" has been put in circulation for public comments till 15 February 2025 by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). The draft covers information disclosure, product and service information display, returns and refund processing, handling of counterfeit goods and measures and sale of banned products, and several other aspects of e-commerce.
 
LocalCircles says it expects that the standards released by BIS for public comments will be enhanced further over the next few months and then released as voluntary standards before they are made mandatory.
 
Last week, a survey by LocalCircles revealed that, due to the return and refund policies of platforms, as many as 48% of online shoppers got stuck with a wrong product, while 20% of online shoppers surveyed received a fake or counterfeit product at least once in the past 12 months.
 
Consumers allege that some online sellers are taking advantage of the non-returnable product category and shipping different goods or, in some cases, counterfeit products. One in five such consumers surveyed confirmed receiving one or more counterfeit products just in the past 12 months, with the highest percentage of fake products sold on e-commerce platforms being in the shoes, cosmetics and fragrances categories, the community platform says. 
 
Currently valued at US$70bn (billion), India's online shopping makes up about 7% of the country's total retail market, presenting a huge growth opportunity. In the coming years, several factors, like high internet penetration, low-cost internet services and a substantial increase in rural smartphone users, are expected to propel the sector towards a promising future, according to a report by investment promotion and facilitation agency Invest India. The report has projected that India will be the leader of the online shopping revolution, with an estimated 500mn (million) shoppers by 2030.
 
"However, the sale of counterfeit products and poor return and refund policies are the two common consumer complaints that have been posted repeatedly by online shoppers on the LocalCircles platform. One of the key processes that platforms need to handle counterfeit complaints better is returns and refunds," LocalCircles says. (Read: 48% of Online Shoppers Got Stuck with a Wrong Product: LocalCircles)
Comments
r_ashok41
4 weeks ago
good initiative and govt needs to give good media publicity to bring to customers and also need to tell e commerce that they have display the same in their websites
Reply
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