The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has issued 24 notices against e-commerce companies for unfair trade practices, informed the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution on Wednesday. In a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Ashwini Kumar Choubey said that apart from these 24 notices, the CCPA has also introduced two security measures to alert and alert consumers against buying household items. Notices have also been issued. Such as pressure cookers, helmets etc. which are not compliant with Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).
Choubey informed that CCPA has been established with effect from 24th July, 2020 under the provisions of Consumer Protection Act, 2019 to regulate matters relating to false or misleading advertisements which are harmful to the interest of public and consumers. A section.
The CCPA has notified the Guidelines for the Prevention of Deceptive Ads and Support for Deceptive Ads, 2022 on June 9, 2022. These guidelines provide the conditions for advertising to be non-misleading and valid; Certain conditions regarding feed ads and free claim ads; and the prohibition of surrogate advertisements.
The Minister also informed that under the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, a consumer can file a complaint either offline or online in the appropriate jurisdiction with the Consumer Commission using the e-Dakhil portal. As per the Revised Economic Jurisdiction, a District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has jurisdiction to consider complaints where the value of goods or services paid as consideration does not exceed Rs. 50 lakhs.
According to the ministry, the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission and the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission have jurisdiction where such consideration is above Rs. 50 lakhs and Rs. 2 crore and above Rs. 2 crores respectively.
The Consumer Protection (Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission) Rules, 2020, notified under the above Act, provide that no fee is required for filing cases in the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions in respect of goods paid by way of payment of up to Rs. or the cost of services. 5 lakhs.
Further, Section 38 (7) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 provides that every complaint shall be disposed of at the earliest and endeavor shall be made to decide the complaint within a period of three months from the date of receipt of the notice. Opposite party where the complaint does not require analysis or examination of the articles and within five months if the goods require analysis or testing.
The Department of Consumer Affairs, through video spots and other content under the “Jago Grahak Jago” campaign, has organized consumer awareness among all the consumers of the country on issues like salient features of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, packaged goods, weights and measures, hallmarks, consumer grievance redressal. awareness has been generated. Mechanism through Departmental website, State or Union Territory Governments, VCOs, TV, Radio, CSCs.
Regular messages on these issues are being posted on social media to harness its potential to create consumer awareness. State/UT Governments have been involved to spread consumer awareness in rural and remote areas.
The Department of Consumer Affairs has recently launched a mascot “Jagruti” to empower consumers and create awareness about their rights. Jagriti is projected as a strong young consumer.
Along with this, the Department of Consumer Affairs has also constituted a committee to develop a framework to check fake and misleading reviews in e-commerce.