Department of Consumer Affairs Holds Stakeholder Consultation on Safety
Pledge for e-Commerce Platforms
·
Safety
pledge aims to raise standards of goods across all e-commerce platforms operating
in India
·
Broad
principles of the pledge include commitment to prevent sale of unsafe goods, increasing
awareness among consumers and sellers and cooperation with regulators
·
Committee
formed for preparing the pledge which includes major e-commerce platforms, Industry
associations, National Law Universities and voluntary consumer associations as members
The
Department of Consumer Affairs held a stakeholder consultation today on preparation
of a ‘Safety Pledge’ for e-commerce platforms aimed to ensure sale of goods which
are safe for use by consumers and requiring platforms to take appropriate measures
to prevent sale of unsafe goods.
The
meeting was chaired by Shri Rohit Kumar Singh, Secretary, Department of Consumer
Affairs and was attended by representatives from industry associations, major e-commerce
platforms, voluntary consumer associations and law chairs.
The
meeting began with a presentation by the Department of Consumer Affairs, emphasizing
the importance of safety of goods for consumers and the provisions under the Consumer
Protection Act, 2019 to prevent sale of unsafe goods to consumers. International
examples of Safety Pledge being implemented in other jurisdictions such as European
Union (EU), Japan, Australia, South Korea, Canada were also discussed.
Sale
of safe goods to consumers is among the strong principles of the Consumer Protection
Act, 2019. ‘Consumer rights’ recognized under Section 2(9) of the Act includes the
right to be protected against the marketing of goods, products or services which
are hazardous to life and property. Further, consumer commissions are empowered
under the Act to pass directions to entities to not offer hazardous or unsafe goods
for sale.
The
Department of Consumer Affairs is actively collaborating with the European Commission
to adopt best international practices aimed at detecting and preventing the sale
of unsafe goods to consumers on online platforms.
The
product safety pledge is a voluntary commitment by online platforms with respect
to the safety of goods sold to consumers. The pledge aims to better protect consumers
from the risk of purchasing unsafe products available for sale on e-commerce platforms.
The
safety pledge aims to raise standards across all online marketplaces operating in
India. Signing the pledge can also be a public way of demonstrating their commitment
to enhancing consumer product safety.
The
proposed principles of the Safety Pledge for e-commerce platforms include detecting
and preventing the sale of unsafe products, co-operating with statutory authorities
responsible for product safety, raising consumer product safety awareness amongst
third party sellers and empowering consumers on product safety issues.
The
Department has constituted a committee for drafting of the Safety Pledge and the
committee includes members from major e-commerce platforms, voluntary consumer associations,
industry bodies and National Law Universities. The committee shall submit its report
in two weeks.
Attendees
to the meeting included industry associations such as CII, ASSOCHAM, FICCI, IAMAI,
NASSCOM, e-commerce platforms namely Amazon, Flipkart, Meesho
etc., Voluntary consumer associations such as Mumbai Grahak
Panchayat and Consumer Voice and Law chairs such as Chair on consumer Law, NLU Delhi
and Chair on Consumer Law, NLSIU, Bengaluru.
All
stakeholders expressed their appreciation for the introduction of a Safety Pledge
for e-commerce platforms. The consensus underscored the critical importance of ensuring
the sale of safe goods to consumers through e-commerce channels.