New Delhi: The Ministry of Consumer Affairs and the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) will hold a virtual assembly on Friday with stakeholders, adding e-commerce entities, to discuss the extent of fake reviews on their platforms, which are misleading. consumers through the purchase of products and services online.
The aim of the assembly is to prepare a roadmap for the future. The discussions will be largely based on the influence of false and misleading reviews on consumers and possible measures to prevent such an anomaly, the ministry said in a statement. declaration.
Consumer Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh wrote to all stakeholders: e-commerce entities such as Flipkart, Amazon, Tata Sons, Reliance Retail and others, as well as client forums, law universities, lawyers, FICCI, IIC, customer rights activists, etc. take part in the meeting.
The Secretary briefed stakeholders on the effects of an EU-wide review of customer reviews on 223 major websites.
The effects of the review highlight that at least 55% violate the EU’s Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, which requires that truthful data be presented to consumers in order to make an informed decision.
In addition, on 144 of the 223 Internet sites reviewed, the government may simply not verify that merchants made sufficient efforts to make sure the reviews were genuine, that is, whether they were posted through consumers who had actually used the product or service being sought. evaluated, said.
The secretary said in the letter that consumers are buying more and more goods and online with increasing use of the web and smartphones.
“Since e-commerce becomes a virtual grocery shopping experience without any ability to physically see or read about the product, consumers rely heavily on reviews posted on e-commerce platforms to get the feedback and enjoy users who have already purchased the product. “smart or service,” he said.
Consequently, false and misleading notices violate the right to be informed, which is a right of the customer the Consumer Protection Law, 2019, he added.
“Since the factor affects other people who shop online on a daily basis and has a significant impact on their rights as consumers, it is important that it is tested with more attention and detail,” the secretary added.