New rules for packaged commodities sold through e-commerce platforms

New rules make display of MRP, net quantity mandatory

E-commerce platforms and the vendors who sell on them will soon have to mandatorily declare the minimum retail price, net quantity and grievance redressal procedure on all packaged goods, as the Centre is planning to amend the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities Rules)-2011.

The amendments would be enforced through an official notification expected to be issued in the next few weeks.

Post the amendments, the director, controller legal metrology officer would be empowered to take action against the company or vendor or even the e-commerce platform for any violation as per the Packaged Commodities Rules-2011.

The e-commerce companies, as well as the platforms like Amazon and others, would have to comply with declarations required under the amended rule.

"The amendments have been framed because we have received many complaints that consumers weren't provided the same goods as mentioned in the packages and also inadequate information were furnished by some companies on their packages," a senior official explained.

He said that even in case of discounts, vendors and sellers on some e-commerce and online platforms displayed wrong or insufficient information in the packages.

However, vendors and sellers said that many of rules required under the amendments are being already complied with.

"We are already complying with the guidelines. Everything from dimensions, weight, consumer helpline details are mentioned on all packaged commodities," said Sanjay Thakur, president of e-seller Suraksha, while the Online Vendors Association (AIOVA) said that already such rules are being complied for all products which are kept at fulfilment warehouses of marketplaces.

Last year, few big e-commerce companies were booked for violation of packaged commodities rules.

The draft amendments to the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities Rules) -- 2011 were put out for public consultation in late December 2016 for 30 days.

After going through all the objections and suggestions, the Centre has now decided to enforce it through a notification to be published in the official gazette.

"We had sent the draft amendments to the Law Ministry and after considering all the aspects will now issue a notification regarding the same," the official commented.

The amendments also made it mandatory for all imported packaged commodities sold in India to display their place of origin and manufacture.

The rules won't be applicable to food items, except in those which might become unfit for human consumption after the expiry of certain period. In such items, 'best before' or 'use by' has to be prominently displayed on the packets.

That apart, under the new rules, display of quantity, MRP etc will almost double the current size, while in bigger packets it will be 1.5 times the current space. 

New rules

a) Sellers on e-commerce platforms and the platforms itself would have to mandatorily display MRP, Net Quantity, consumer grievance process in all packaged commodities sold

b) The sellers said many of these recommendations are already being complied with

c) The draft amendments were put in public domain for comments and opinions

d) Post that it has been vetted by the Law Ministry and is now ready for being implemented through a gazette notification

e) The amendments would double the display size of quantity, MRP on small packets, while on bigger ones it would be increased by 1.5 times