Under the Consumer Protection Act, 2018, the e-commerce companies will see a gamut of significant changes in accordance with which they will have to comply with tougher rules. The proposal to consider these online market places as 'electronic service providers' instead of intermediaries will increase the liability towards the customer.

The e-commerce industry will have to be in turn more transparent in respect of how they make use of customer data under the new regime which will overhaul the three-decade old legislation. The companies will also be liable for fraudulent sales as well as defective products sold via their platforms.

The rules under the new the Consumer Protection Act, 2018 are being framed by the Consumer affairs department and within the framework such companies will also need to disclose the seller agreement as well as all details concerning their business.

As per the FDI guidelines of DIPP, online market places serve as providers of tech platforms and act as facilitators for buyers and seller while the IT Act defined them to be intermediaries.

The e-commerce companies in a written statement to the Consumer affairs dept said that the new definition ' will create issues and unnecessary inconvenience in smooth running of business and may consume resources towards bringing clarifications and resolutions to issues.

Such companies may also be required to register with the Consumer affairs department.

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