BackFake reviews on e-commerce websites: Govt to bring framework in 2 months
The government has constituted a committee with representatives of e-commerce firms, Advertising Standards Council of India, CII and other stakeholders who will develop the framework
PremiumThe union government on Friday said it has conducted comprehensive consultations with stakeholders, including e-commerce firms and consumer organizations, on curbing fake reviews on the retailers' websites, and would come out with a framework on the issue in the next two months.
Consumer affairs secretary Rohit Kumar Singh said that the government has constituted a committee with representatives of e-commerce firms, Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), CII and other stakeholders who will develop the framework.
“There are two big issues at the moment. One is traceability, ascertaining who wrote the review is challenging. Some websites have a check…only customers who bought the product can post a review. Another challenge that is rather difficult to handle is negative reviews posted by business rivals," Singh said during a press conference.
Singh had earlier said that consumers on e-commerce platforms heavily rely on reviews posted to see the opinion and experiences of users who have already purchased the goods or services which is why the fake reviews need to be curbed.
According to an EU-wide screening of online consumer reviews across 223 major websites, about 55% of the websites violate the unfair commercial practices directive of the EU which requires truthful information to be presented to consumers to make an informed choice.
The Ministry of Consumer Affairs has stated that fake and misleading reviews violate a consumer’s right under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
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