In order to combat the fake review menace on e-commerce platforms in the country, the Centre has launched a framework for safeguarding and protecting consumer interests from false and misleading feedback on shopping portals.
The Department of Consumer Affairs launched the new set of regulations. The framework titled “Indian Standard (IS) 19000:2022 ‘Online Consumer Reviews — Principles and Requirements for their Collection, Moderation, and Publication’ was launched by Rohit Kumar Singh, Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, along with senior officers from the department and the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). The guidelines will apply to any online platform that publishes consumer reviews.
What if it made mandatory?
The standard will initially be voluntary for compliance for all e-commerce platforms operational in the country. However, when made mandatory, the violation of the standard can invite punishment for unfair trade practice or violation of consumer rights.
Once made mandatory, a consumer may submit grievances to the National Consumer Helpline, Consumer Commissions, or the CCPA, against misleading reviews.
During the launch, Singh said that BIS will also develop a Conformity Assessment Scheme for the standard to assess compliance. “The guiding principles of the standard are integrity, accuracy, privacy, security, transparency, accessibility and responsiveness,” Singh said.
“The standard prescribes specific responsibilities for the review author and the review administrator. For review author, these include confirming acceptance of terms and conditions, providing contact information and for review administrator, these include safeguarding personal information and training of staff,” Singh explained.
It also specifies an organization’s responsibilities, such as developing a code of practise and stipulations for terms and conditions such as accessibility, criteria, and ensuring content does not contain financial information, among other things.
What ‘standard’ will provide
The standard also includes methods for verifying the review author’s email address, identifying the review author via phone call or SMS, confirming registration by clicking
on a link, and using the captcha system to check the review author’s traceability and genuineness.
“All stakeholders in the e-commerce ecosystem, including consumers, e-commerce platforms, and sellers, are expected to benefit from the standard. It will boost consumer confidence in purchasing goods online and help them make better purchasing decisions, ” according to a government official.
Guidelines to combat fake reviews
The guidelines to combat fake reviews on e-commerce platforms came into force on November 25th. Furthermore, all platforms required to form review administrators who will review the comments using automated or manual tools, according to the guidelines.
Following implementation, consumers will be unable to edit product reviews on e-commerce platforms. The framework will prohibit users or publishers from posting fake or fraudulent reviews, according to the guidelines. Authors and publishers will be required to identify themselves by using their email addresses or phone numbers.
