: CUTS advocates for restricting ecommerce rules on consumer protection #finance #StockMarketNEWS CUTS advocates for restricting e-commerce rules on consumer protection New Delhi, Jul 5 (KNN) Taking

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CUTS advocates for restricting ecommerce rules on consumer protection #finance #StockMarketNEWS
CUTS advocates for restricting e-commerce rules on consumer protection New Delhi, Jul 5 (KNN) Taking note of the fact the proposed amendments to the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020 are transgressing into addressing the concerns of the seller-side, many consumer organisations felt that the rules should stick to only consumer-facing issues.

In this regard, a roundtable of consumer organisations was organised by CUTS International Friday evening to deliberate upon the proposed amendments, upon which the Department of Consumer Affairs has sought comments till 6th July.

Around 30 representatives of various consumer organisations were present among 60 odd participants. It came out unanimously that e-commerce ecosystem has benefitted consumers and that the same needs to be promoted, without hindrances.

Moderating the session, Pradeep S Mehta, Secretary General, CUTS, set the tone by flagging how adding Platform-to-Business regulatory elements could disturb the simplicity of the consumer protection regime. He recalled his successful fight in 1980s that resulted in a procedurally simple consumer protection regime in 1986 suited for general Indian consumers.

Rejecting the idea of dealing with non-consumer protection issues in the proposed amendment, Saroja S. , Director of Chennai-based Citizen consumer and civic Action Group (CAG), instead wanted emphasis on “factors like sustainable consumption, packaging and carbon footprints, whilst building awareness about such green initiatives through consumer labelling. ”

She was specially referring to the tendency of over-packaging by e-commerce entities.

Anusha Iyer, Advocacy Officer of Ahmedabad-based, Consumer Education & Research Centre (CERC) was worried that various proposed amendments to the E-Commerce Rules are vague and ambiguous that would increase confusion and implementation hiccups. She also felt that overlap with other legislations should be avoided.

Going back to the basics of legal drafting, Surendra Kanstiya, former Chairman of Mumbai-based Consumer Guidance Society of India, highlighted that, “the proposed amendments are poorly drafted hence affecting user-readability and implementation. ”

He also stated that the Rules if implemented in its current form will “adversely impact ease of doing business in India.

Speaking as an expert on the e-commerce legalities, Gowree Gokhale, Partner, Nishith Desai Associates, explained how bringing elements to ‘encourage free and fair competition in the market’ into the proposed amendments goes beyond the mandate of its empowering provision in the parent Act (i. e. Section 94 of Consumer Protection Act, 2019).

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