Centre To Develop Framework To Check Fake Reviews On E-Commerce Websites

The Centre will develop a framework to keep check over fake reviews on e-commerce websites, an official release said on Saturday (28 May).

The Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA) after studying the present mechanism being followed by the e-commerce entities in India and best practices available globally, will develop these frameworks.

DoCA in association with the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) along with various stakeholders like e-commerce entities, consumer forums, law universities, lawyers, FICCI, CII, consumer rights activists and others in a meeting on Friday (27 May) discussed the magnitude and roadmap ahead for fake reviews on websites, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs said in a release.

Since e-commerce involves a virtual shopping experience without any opportunity to physically view or examine the product, consumers heavily rely on reviews posted on e-commerce platforms to see the opinion and experience of users who have already purchased the good or service, the ministry said.

All stakeholders agreed that the issue deserves to be monitored closely and appropriate framework governing the fake reviews may be developed to address the issue for protection of consumer interest, the ministry said.

Stakeholders from e-commerce companies claimed that they have frameworks in place by which they monitor fake reviews and would be pleased to take part in developing a legal framework on the issue, it added.

Paid reviews, unverifiable reviews and absence of disclosure in case of incentivised reviews which make it challenging for consumers to recognize genuine reviews were among the issues discussed during the meeting, the ministry said.