E-commerce platforms have welcomed the new rules to strengthen consumer protection, but flagged implementation challenges around price disclosures, search rankings and annual certification requirements.
Executives from three e-commerce platforms said the broad objective of strengthening consumer protection and transparency was welcome, but some provisions required closer examination from an implementation perspective. However, they worry that the new rule requiring them to share the main factors used to rank products and sellers, and the importance given to each factor, could reveal how their search system works, and potentially help rivals.
“Regulation should strengthen consumer trust while preserving ease of doing business for small businesses and digital marketplaces,” one of the three executives said. The amended rules take effect on 1 January.
Price confusion
The pricing provision also needs greater clarity, the second executive said. “Pricing is in the hands of sellers and not the marketplace. How can we ensure compliance with the new pricing requirement when prices are determined by individual sellers? There are also several seller-focused issues that we are trying to assess,” the executive said.
Prices can change frequently, making the application of a 30-day lowest-price requirement across a large and dynamic marketplace potentially complex, this executive said.
The amended Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2026 require platforms to display both the reduced price and the prior price when announcing a price reduction. The prior price has been defined as the lowest price at which the goods or services were offered during the 30 days preceding the announcement.
They further stated that the sector understood and supported the government’s objective of holding platforms accountable for the consumer experience, particularly regarding dark patterns.
According to Rajiv Kumar, chairman of non-profit research firm Pahle India Foundation and a former vice-chairman of Niti Aayog, clearer e-commerce rules will surely strengthen trust and safeguard consumer interest. “In that respect, they are welcome,” he said.
“However, they make it more difficult for smaller players to meet compliance requirements, such as acknowledging grievances within 48 hours and resolving them within one month. This could pose a challenge, as the key to effective rule-making is to improve transparency without creating excessive compliance burdens that could discourage innovation,” Kumar said.
The issue is particularly relevant for marketplace models, where platforms host thousands or millions of sellers who independently supply products and set their prices.
‘Massive win’
Hailing the move, Vivek Singhal, co-founder and chief executive of Bidso, a B2B manufacturer of outdoor toys, said,” This is a massive win for safety and authenticity of the toy industry. Unregulated, counterfeit, and lookalike products will no longer be able to hide behind misleading search rankings or ambiguous listings.”
“This framework rewards original design and rigorous quality standards over cheap, deceptive alternatives. It creates a level playing field where Indian parents can shop online with absolute confidence, knowing they are buying genuine, safe toys for their children,” said Singhal.
An annual self-audit was a reasonable way of addressing this, the executive said, but the certification requirement needed further consideration given the scale and constantly evolving nature of digital platforms. A periodic compliance assessment or self-certification against prescribed guidelines could be more practical than an absolute certification that a platform was completely free of dark patterns, the third executive suggested.
Queries sent to Amazon, Zomato, Reliance Retail, Big Basket and a spokesperson of the consumer affairs department remained unanswered.
Flipkart welcomed the government’s focus on consumer protection and transparency.
“We welcome the government’s focus on strengthening consumer protection and transparency in e-commerce. As a customer-centric marketplace, we remain focused on building consumer trust while enabling lakhs of sellers, including small businesses, MSMEs & farmers, to participate in India’s digital commerce economy,” a Flipkart spokesperson said. “We will study the detailed provisions and continue to engage with the government to ensure the framework strengthens consumer protection while supporting the growth of digital commerce."
Consistent compliance
The rules, notified by the Department of Consumer Affairs on 10 September, amend the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020. The government has said the amendments seek to address emerging consumer concerns while maintaining a balance between consumer protection and ease of doing business.
“The new provisions will make online shopping more transparent, particularly on discounts, sponsored listings and product information. Consumers should be able to understand whether a price is genuinely reduced, whether a search result is sponsored and what they are buying before making a purchase,” said Ashim Sanyal, managing trustee, Consumer VOICE.
“The effectiveness of the rules, however, will ultimately depend on consistent compliance by platforms and strong enforcement against dark patterns and other practices that can mislead consumers,” Sanyal added.
The consumer-protection provisions assume importance given the volume of complaints received by the National Consumer Helpline. In 2025, the NCH received 17,71,622 grievances, of which 5,11,196, or around 29%, were related to e-commerce, according to the Department of Consumer Affairs.
The new rules draw significance as India’s e-commerce market expands. The market is projected to grow from around $140 billion currently to up to $300 billion by 2030, according to a February 2026 Boston Consulting Group report.