New Delhi : The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) under Department of Consumer Affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution has taken strong action on violations of consumer rights. In a run-up to the festive season, CCPA took stringent action to safeguard consumer interests.
In a press conference here today, Secretary Department of Consumer Affairs, Ms. LeenaNandan shared how CCPA has been efficiently and effectively tightening noose over the violators.
The violations involve declaring false country of origin on the products listed on e-commerce platforms and failure to declare country of origin. CCPA has taken suo-moto cognizance of the matter on the basis of complaints received from numerous consumers on the National Consumer Helpline portal.
Rule 6(5)(d) of the Consumer Protection (E-commerce) Rules, 2020 mandate any seller offering goods or services through a marketplacee-commerce entity to provide all relevant details about the goods and services offered for sale by the seller including country of origin, necessary for enabling the consumer to make an informed decision at the pre-purchase stage. Rule 4(3) further stipulates that no e-commerce entity shall adopt any unfair trade practice, whether in the course of business on its platform or otherwise.
CCPA has sent Notice to e-commerce entities for violations reported on their platforms. CCPA has directed such entities to furnish detailed reply as to what are the tangible steps have been taken by them on this matter.
Since LM (Packaged Commodity) Rules also mandate declaration of country of origin on e-commerce platforms, CCPA is also working in coordination with the Legal Metrology Department for necessary action under the Legal Metrology Act.
Thus, 202 notices with regard to country of origin violations in the period 16.10.20 to 22.10.21. Out of this, electronic products recorded the highest violations with 47 notices, followed by apparel with 35 notices.
75 companies have compounded their offences, out of which 68 have compounded for violations relating to country of origin. The total amount collected by compounding of the offences is ₹41,85,500.
