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A consumer commission has asked Amazon to pay a refund to a TV buyer along with compensation, holding that an e-commerce platform cannot avoid liability for a defective product by claiming to be a "mere intermediary" and not the actual seller. District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (suburban Mumbai) on January 6 held Amazon Seller Services Private Limited (ASSPL) guilty of deficiency in service for resolving the issue. The commission, led by president Pradeep Kadu and member Gauri Kapse, ordered ASSPL to refund the customer, stressing that an online marketplace "cannot absolve itself of responsibility merely by describing itself as an intermediary, especially when it actively facilitates the sale, receives commercial benefit, and engages directly with consumers post-sale". "A consumer purchasing goods online does not have direct access to the manufacturer or service centre. The only visible and accessible entity is the online platform. The consumer relies not only on the
A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking to declare that consumers have a "right to know" about the quality, purity and certification of products, besides details of distributors and sellers for redressal against unfair restrictive trade practices. It has also sought directions to the Centre and the states to ensure that every distributor, trader and shop owner displays details of registration, including name, address, phone number and number of employees at the entry gate in bold letters on a display board visible to people. The plea is slated to come up for hearing on July 21 before a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta. The petition filed by petitioner Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay said "right to know" was crucial for consumers to make informed choices and to protect themselves from unfair or restrictive trade practices and unscrupulous exploitation. "Right to know helps consumers avoid falling prey to a fraudulent or deceptive distributor, dealer, trader, sel
India's private consumption has almost doubled to USD 2.1 trillion in 2024 from USD 1 trillion in 2013, growing at 7.2 per cent CAGR, faster than the US, China and Germany, according to a report. On course to become the world's third-largest consumer market by 2026, India is well-positioned to reap the benefits of a demographic dividend, said the report titled 'India's changing discretionary spending: Key insights for brands' launched by Deloitte India with Retailers Association of India on Thursday. "Surpassing Germany, India's private consumption has almost doubled to USD 2.1 trillion in 2024 from USD 1 trillion in 2013, and during 2013-23, India's consumption grew at 7.2 per cent CAGR, faster than China, the US and Germany," it said. By 2030, the report said, "The number of Indians earning over USD 10,000 annually is expected to nearly triple, increasing from 60 million in 2024 to 165 million. This reflects the significant growth of the country's middle class and a fundamental ..
Consumer Affairs Secretary Nidhi Khare on Friday said the department will soon issue guidelines for the prevention of spam calls and messages to safeguard consumers' interests. In June, the Department of Consumer Affairs came out with draft guidelines to address the issue of pesky/promotional or unsolicited commercial calls received by consumers. "The Department of Consumer Affairs had started working on prevention of pesky calls, and we had to engage with all the stakeholders in this," Khare told reporters on the sidelines of a CII event here. The Department of Telecommunications was also coming out with rules, he said, adding, "we slowed down because we wanted to actually give the sector regulator full powers". The secretary further said the telecom industry wants certain guidelines to be put out for safeguarding consumers' interest under the Consumer Protection Act. "We are working on it, and very soon we will come out with the guidelines for prevention of pesky calls," Khare .