Highlights
The forum has fined two companies including Paytm in one case.
The forum has asked the complainant to pay a compensation of Rs.15,000.
The complainant had purchased a sewing machine, which did not bear the name of any country.
New Delhi. If the country of manufacture is not listed on the product sold on the e-commerce portal, the portal itself will be responsible for the product. This comment has been made by the District Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission of Hyderabad during one of its decisions. Under e-commerce laws, companies are required to provide consumers with information about the country of origin of products, the commission said. An e-commerce marketplace should ensure that this essential information is displayed to customers so that they can make a choice.
The commission added that e-commerce marketplaces cannot protect forum companies from fines under the Information Technology Act if there is any violation of e-commerce rules. In this case, the Consumer Forum has imposed a penalty of Rs 15,000 on the e-commerce company Paytm in a complaint against the marketplace and UniOne India Pvt Ltd (the seller). This compensation will be given to Akash Kumar, the complainant in the case.
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What’s the whole deal?
Akash Kumar bought an Usha sewing machine for Rs 13,440 through Paytm in August 2020. When he found the machine, he found out that it was made in Thailand. The company has not disclosed the country of origin on the site as mandated by the e-commerce rules 2020. Since no information was given, the complainant assumed that the product must have been made in India. Akash said that if the country of origin was written on the online portal, he would not have bought the sewing machine.
The company made this argument.
Opposing the complaint, Paytm argued that it is an online marketplace, which provides a platform for multiple sellers to sell their products. It acts only as an intermediary to facilitate sales transactions between sellers and buyers. It has nothing to do with selling the product directly. Also, the producer argued that it is not wrong to omit the country of origin information when all other required information has been given. The company said it had not caused any harm, injury, mental anguish or trauma to the complainant.
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Tags: Business news, Business News in Hindi., User forum, Paytm
First Publication: 06 October 2022, 10:17 IST