• News
  • India News
  • ‘40% of plaints on government consumer helpline tied to e-commerce sector’
This story is from December 6, 2020

‘40% of plaints on government consumer helpline tied to e-commerce sector’

‘40% of plaints on government consumer helpline tied to e-commerce sector’
NEW DELHI: About four out of every 10 consumer complaints received through the government’s consumer helpline are related to the e-commerce sector. According to government data, the e-commerce related complaints have almost doubled in the past eight months since the Covid pandemic hit the country and a large section of consumers shifted to buying products and services online.
The data from the National Consumer Helpline (NCH) show that out of the 62,310 registered grievances in October, 24,658 were related to e-commerce.
Before the nationwide lockdown, the share of such complaints had reduced to around 20%.
According to the NCH, more than 26% of the complaints relating to the e-commerce sector were regarding no refund of the paid amount and another 19% grievances were against non-delivery or delayed delivery of products by the online sellers. Nearly 14% grievances were against deficiency in services and 10% were related to delivery of wrong products. Another 9% of the complaints were against delivery of defective products.
“It’s very strange that complaints against e-commerce players are rising and these entities must address the grievances quickly. There could be a very high number of such complaints, which are not getting registered, and we are registering only those which are coming to us through calls and e-mails. Since the online transactions are increasing, the sector players need to address the concerns,” said Prof Suresh Misra, project director of NCH at Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA).
Sources in NCH said since major e-commerce firms are on the convergence platform the grievances registered here are resolved fast. “There are certain delays in cases where the consumers demand interest for delay in refund,” said a source.
The consumer affairs ministry has notified the rules for the e-commerce sector under the Consumer Protection Act making the companies responsible for faster redressal of grievances and to have a robust refund and return policy. Now it has been made mandatory to have a dedicated executive to address the complaints of the consumers and the details need to be displayed for consumers. The designated executive has to acknowledge receipt of any complaint within 48 hours and redress the same within one month.
The rules also specify that all payments towards accepted refund requests of the consumers has to be made as per the law.
End of Article
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA