The government is set to take strict action to deal with fake reviews of products being sold on e-commerce websites/apps. The government is likely to make it mandatory for e-commerce companies to comply with quality norms for consumer reviews. The development comes after a voluntary push failed to effectively curb fake reviews.
The government came up with the new quality norms for e-tailers a year ago. The norms prohibit e-commerce firms from publishing paid reviews and demanding disclosure of such promotional content. However, the last year’s direction failed to stop fake reviews of products and services on e-commerce platforms are still slipping through
Nidhi Khare, Secretary at the Consumer Affairs Ministry, “It’s been more than one year that the voluntary standard on ‘online reviews’ was notified. Some entities claim that they are complying with it. However, fake reviews are still getting published.”
“To safeguard the consumer interest, now we want to make these standards mandatory,” she said, adding that the ministry has scheduled a meeting with e-commerce firms and consumer organisations on May 15 to discuss the proposed move.
The ministry’s Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) that formulated and issued the new standard for “Online Consumer Reviews” in November 2022, barred publishing of reviews “purchased and/or written by individuals employed for that purpose by the supplier or third party concerned”.
With no chance to physically inspect products, consumers heavily rely on online reviews while making purchases. Misleading reviews and ratings can lead them to purchase goods or services based on incorrect information.
(With PTI inputs)
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