E-com companies continue to be on the consumer affairs department’s radar
New Delhi, June 20 (IANS): Nearly 38-40% of complaints to the National Consumer Helpline (1,519) were about e-commerce businesses last month, a senior government official said on Monday.
“A powerful person in Delhi called me and said: I had ordered two chairs from Amazon and only one was delivered. I have been complaining for three days but no one can hear me,” said Rohit Kumar Singh , secretary of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs. Affairs, said at a gathering to discuss these issues here.
Even though it is only around 8-9% of India’s total trade, e-commerce businesses are gaining importance with each passing day, he said, however: “Last month, nearly 38 40% of complaints on the National Consumer Helpline (1519) were against e-commerce businesses.”
E-commerce is a faceless transaction compared to traditional commerce in which goods were purchased from neighborhood stores and things like ordering two and getting one chair delivered would never happen with traditional merchants, a he pointed out.
Stating that all commerce is consolidated into a few select big players. For example, e-commerce has two to three big names, taxi aggregators have two to three, food and beverage operators have two big players, and if we look at telecom operators, there’s no only 3 to 4 big players, said the secretary. , “As this consolidation occurs, these entities become more and more powerful and the balance of power with the consumer is in limbo. It becomes imperative (for us) to stand firm with the consumer and the consumer dispute resolution boards – national, state and district – should ensure that the consumer does not lose his right.”
Previously, the consumer affairs department had already issued notices to Ola/Uber taxi services as well as several restaurants regarding service charges.
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