Big e-commerce firms to adopt Safety Pledge on National Consumer Day

Major e-commerce platforms like BigBasket, Tata Cliq, Tata 1mg, Zomato and Ola will be adopting the Safety Pledge to secure the interests of consumers on the occasion of National Consumer Day, 2024 which will be celebrated on December 24, the Department of Consumer Affairs announced on Saturday.

The Safety Pledge is a voluntary commitment by e-commerce platforms to detect and prevent the sale of unsafe, spurious and non-conforming products, cooperating with statutory authorities responsible for product safety, raising consumer product safety awareness among sellers and empowering consumers on product safety.

The Safety Pledge for e-commerce platforms announced by the Centre's Department of Consumer Affairs aims to secure consumers' interests.

The Department had set up a committee under the chairmanship of noted consumer activist and journalist Pushpa Girimaji, in November 2023, for drafting the pledge with major e-commerce entities, industry bodies and law chairs as its members.

The final draft of the pledge has been prepared after an extensive consultative process by the Committee and scrutinisation by the Department of Consumer Affairs.

Many jurisdictions across the globe have nudged e-commerce platforms to take a voluntary safety pledge, as an informal commitment to proactively address the issue of determining liability on e-commerce platforms, especially when the actual seller is untraceable or unwilling to accept responsibility.

The unique nature of e-commerce, where physical examination of products before purchase is not possible, underscores the crucial role of product safety, which is established on the expectation that products adhere to safety standards and specified regulations. Consequently, product safety holds paramount importance for online shoppers, the statement said.

The sale of products that are unsafe or fail to meet the relevant standards on e-commerce platforms poses a significant risk to the safety and well-being of consumers and the public. This becomes particularly crucial in the case of products which are mandated to conform to standards under Quality Control Orders (QCOs), the statement explained.

With over 880 million users, India is the world's second-largest internet market. By 2030, India is projected to host the second-largest online shopper base globally, with an estimated 500 million shoppers. In light of the consistent expansion of e-commerce in India, ensuring the safety of products sold online is imperative for consumer well-being.

The Consumer Protection Act, 2019 acknowledges the significance of safety and product standards at the time of purchasing a product. 'Consumer rights' as outlined 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 and the right to be informed about the quality, quantity, potency, purity, standard and price of goods, products or services, as the case may be, to protect the consumer against unfair trade practice, the official statement said.

Falsely representing that the goods are of a particular standard, quality, quantity, grade, composition, style or model constitutes ‘unfair trade practice’ as defined under Section 2(47) of the Act. Further, goods that do not comply with the standard which is required to be maintained by or under any law for the time being in force are liable to be held ‘defective’ under Section 2(10) of the Act.

Pertinently, the duties of e-commerce entities stipulated under Rule 4(3) of the Consumer Protection (E-commerce) Rules, 2020 include the duty to not adopt any unfair trade practice, whether in the course of business on its platform or otherwise, the statement added.