India to develop framework to check fake reviews on e-commerce platforms

What’s happening? The Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA) on May 28 announced that it will develop a framework to curb fake reviews on e-commerce websites like Amazon, Flipkart, and Myntra.

Why is this important? The e-commerce shopping experience is significantly shaped by reviews shared by other buyers because the customer cannot physically view or examine a product. But paid reviews, reviews by people who haven’t bought that product, and the absence of disclosure in case of incentivised reviews make it challenging for consumers to recognise genuine reviews and harm consumer interests. As a result, the right to be informed, which is a consumer right under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, is violated.

“Traceability by ensuring the authenticity of the reviewer and the associated liability of the platform are the two key issues here. Also e-com players must disclose as to how they choose the “most relevant reviews” for display in a fair and transparent manner.” — Rohit Kumar Singh, Secretary Department of Consumer Affairs

Meeting held with relevant stakeholders: Prior to announcing the decision to develop a framework, DoCA in association with the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) held a meeting with relevant stakeholders on May 27 to better understand the issue and to prepare a road map. E-commerce entities like Flipkart, Amazon, Tata Sons, Reliance Retail, consumer forums, law universities, lawyers, FICCI, CII, and consumer rights activists, among others, were expected to participate in the meeting according to a press release. “All stakeholders agreed that the issue deserves to be monitored closely and appropriate framework governing the fake reviews may be developed to address the issue for the protection of consumer interest,” DoCA said after the meeting. Although e-commerce companies claimed that they have frameworks in place by which they monitor fake reviews, they were open to taking part in developing a legal framework on the issue, DoCA added.

EU reference: Ahead of the meeting with stakeholders, DoCA shared with participants a press release of the European Commission dated January 20, 2022, which highlighted the results of an EU-wide screening of online consumer reviews across 223 major websites. According to these results, in 144 out of the 223 websites checked, the authorities could not confirm that traders were doing enough to ensure that reviews were authentic. Furthermore, 176 of the websites do not mention that their internal policies prohibit incentivised reviews (paid reviews).

Next steps: The Department of Consumer Affairs will study the present mechanism being followed by the e-commerce entities in India and the best practices available globally to develop these frameworks. It will work with ASCI and other stakeholders, the press release said.

What do you think? Does India really need a policy to check fake reviews on e-commerce sites? Leave a comment.

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