Online shopping is a daily habit for millions of Indians, but the digital marketplace is constantly evolving. The government has introduced new rules to make your shopping experience fairer and more transparent. Here is what you need to know.
An End to Deceptive Designs
You've likely
encountered 'dark patterns' without knowing the name for them. These are manipulative designs on websites and apps that trick you into doing things you did not intend, like signing up for a subscription or buying a more expensive product. Practices like 'basket sneaking' (adding items to your cart without your consent), 'false urgency' (claiming items are almost out of stock to pressure you), and creating confusing interfaces to make unsubscribing difficult are now explicitly regulated. Under new amendments, e-commerce platforms must comply with the Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 2023. They are required to perform a yearly self-audit and display a compliance certificate, ensuring they are not using these deceptive tactics. This means a cleaner, more honest shopping experience, free from digital trickery designed to exploit your behaviour.
Truth in Discounts and Pricing
Festive season sales often bring a flurry of unbelievable discounts, but how real are they? A common tactic involves inflating a product's price right before a sale to make the discount appear larger than it is. New rules put an end to this. When a platform advertises a price cut, it must now display both the discounted price and the 'prior price'. The prior price is defined as the lowest price the item was sold at in the 30 days before the sale. This allows you to see the true value of the discount being offered and make a more informed decision, protecting you from misleading pricing strategies designed to create a false sense of a bargain.
More Power with 'Fallback Liability'
What happens when you pay for an item, but it never arrives, or you receive a fake product from a third-party seller on a major platform? Previously, the marketplace could often direct you back to the seller, leaving you to navigate a complex and often frustrating dispute process. The introduction of 'fallback liability' changes this dynamic. This rule makes the e-commerce marketplace entity responsible if a seller on its platform fails to deliver goods or services as promised, leading to a loss for the consumer. While platforms previously acted as intermediaries, this change places a greater duty on them to vet their sellers and ensure order fulfillment, giving you a more powerful and direct route for recourse when things go wrong.
Clearer 'Country of Origin' Information
In a push for transparency and to support the 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' initiative, knowing where your products come from is becoming easier. While displaying the country of origin was already a rule, recent amendments focus on discoverability. E_commerce platforms are now required to provide searchable and sortable filters based on country of origin for imported products. This means you will no longer have to hunt for this information in the fine print of a product description. Instead, you can actively choose to see products made in India or compare items based on their origin, giving you more control over your purchasing decisions.
Regulating Flash Sales and Search Results
Flash sales that create artificial demand by limiting consumer choice through back-to-back sales controlled by the platform are now under scrutiny. While legitimate promotional sales are not banned, these new rules aim to curb predatory practices where specific sellers are given an unfair advantage. Furthermore, platforms are now prohibited from manipulating search results to mislead you or reduce the relevance of your query. Sponsored listings must be clearly and prominently identified, allowing you to distinguish between paid advertisements and organic search results. This ensures that what you see at the top of your search is genuinely relevant, not just the product of a hidden commercial arrangement.
