Govt to tweak rules for e-commerce portals
The Department of Consumer Affairs is in the process of bringing in revised e-commerce rules which, among the amendments, will also press for “algorithmic fairness” on these marketplaces to remove the advantage that many of these entities give to sellers wholly or partially owned by them and provide a level playing field for small businesses. Consumer’s right Speaking to The Hindu, Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh said “transparency” and “fairness” were key to protecting the consumer rights in a digital economy. Last month, the Confederation of All India Traders, which represents about 8 crore small and medium traders, in a letter to the Department of Consumer Affairs sought “urgent investigation”. Complex web of preferred sellers The industry body further observed that Amazon not only indulged in control over inventory through its related party sellers such as Cloudtail and Appario and a couple of other preferred sellers, but had also created a complex web of preferred sellers and service providers to whom it gave preferential treatment in the form of low/zero commission charges and platform fee, faster one-day delivery, best payment discounts and prominent visibility on the marketplace amongst others.
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