Traceability first step to address fake reviews, govt tells e-commerce cos

A meeting was held on Friday by Department of Consumers Affairs with Amazon, Flipkart, Reliance and Tata to address the issue, say sources

The Centre and the e-commerce industry in a meeting agreed that the “traceability” of product reviews on online retail platforms is the first important step in addressing the issue of fake reviews.

The meeting was held on Friday by the Department of Consumers Affairs in association with the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI). E-commerce firms like Amazon, Flipkart, Reliance and Tata participated in the meeting along with trade organisations such as FICCI and CII and consumer forums and lawyers, according to the sources. Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh was also part of the meeting.

“It was discussed that there should be traceability of the reviews like if the person who wrote the review has actually bought the product,” said a person familiar with the matter. “ However it was also discussed that the platforms cannot be held responsible for the veracity of the review, whether it is positive or negative and it is the view of the consumer.”

The meeting comes days after Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh wrote to various e-commerce firms such as Amazon, Flipkart, Amazon, Reliance and Tata and other trade organisations. The aim of the meeting was to hear about what companies are doing to address the issue of fake reviews and the kind of regulations that need to be introduced.

“The e-commerce firms and other trade organisations have been asked to make submissions as to what aspects should be covered and how to address the issue,” said another person.”They wanted the companies to give whatever framework they are using to solve the challenge of fake reviews.”

For instance, some e-commerce companies have a process where a customer can submit the review only after using the order ID, which has already been fulfilled.

Singh, along with his letter to the e-commerce companies, had also shared a statement issued by the European Commission dated January 20, 2022. It highlighted the results of an EU-wide screening of online consumer reviews across 223 major websites.

“The screening results highlight that at least 55 per cent 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 statement said. “Further, in  144 of the 223 websites checked, the authorities could not confirm that traders were doing enough to ensure that the reviews were authentic, i.e if they were posted by consumers who had actually used the product or service that was reviewed.”

Singh’s letter said it is relevant to mention that with growing internet and smartphone use, consumers are increasingly shopping online to purchase goods and services. It said given that 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 a user who has already purchased the goods or service. “As a result, due to fake and misleading reviews, the right to be informed, which is a consumer right under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 is violated,” said the letter. “Since the issue impacts people shopping online on a daily basis and has a significant impact on their rights as a consumer, it is important that it is examined with greater scrutiny and detail. Therefore, you are requested to kindly attend the meeting in person or through VC (video conference) as per the enclosed schedule and provide your valuable inputs on this issue.”