Presentation On E-commerce and online services Creating fairness and trust By Mr. Ashim Sanyal, COO & Secretary Consumer VOICE Voluntary ...

Presentation

                        On

E-commerce and online services Creating fairness and trust

                      By

          Mr. Ashim Sanyal, COO & Secretary

               Consumer VOICE
(Voluntary Organization in Interest of Consumer Education)

               New Delhi, INDIA
             www.consumer-voice.org

Consumer Concerns on E-Commerce and Online Services

In the event of                  How accurate is
dispute, which law                                        What would be the
                                 information
and court will                                            mechanism of
                                 provided
adjudicated the                                           payment? And to
                                 online?
dispute?                                                  what extent is it safe?

                                                       Whom to
                Hacking of
                                                       complaint for
                Passwords/Info
                                                       Grievances?
 Does a website
 advertisement
 legally constitute                                            What if a fraud is
 an offer?                                                     committed?
 H
 How are the offer
 and acceptance
 effected and                                                  How to spot
 confirmed?                  What would be the                 online Scams
                             mode of delivery of the
                             goods ordered?

Major Challenges
The consumer has little                          wherever e-commerce site is only
idea about the physical                          a platform for buyers and sellers
establishment of the seller   Security of        to meet and transact business –
and s/he has no means to      Personal           the site does not accept any
verify the address            Information        responsibility of payment, quality,
represented on the            shared             delivery, or genuineness of the
website etc                                      transaction/claims
The consumer cannot check
or verify the claimed                            Payment is made by the
features of the product or                       consumer and received by the
service as s/he has no                           seller even before the product
means to verify                                  or services reaches the
information .                                    buyer/consumer in case of
                                                 electronic transactions.

The consumer has to rely
on representation of seller                      Sometime a third party is also
almost entirely in the         Authenticity      involved either for payment
absence of physical access     of Information    transaction or delivery
to the seller or his                             transaction
products

Suggested Guidelines in the context of E-Commerce
                                   Businesses/Online Services

              Scope: These guidelines should be for business to Consumer (B2C)and not
              business to business transactions (not B2B)
  INFORMATION ABOUT BUSINESS
                                                        TRANSPARENT AND EFFECTIVE
    Companies must provide                                     PROTECTION
    accurate, clear and easily
  accessible information about                             To provide affordable,
itself - location of the business,                       transparent and effective
contact details, easy method of                           consumer protection to
verifying the relevant codes and                           consumers in order to
practices of the certifying body                          redress their complaints

FAIR BUSINESS, ADVERTISING
AND MARKETING PRACTICES                                    INFORMATION ABOUT
                                                             GOODS & SERVICES
The organizations involved in such
business must act in accordance                             Accurate and correct
with fair business policies,                               description of goods or
practices and marketing practices.                       services offered, to enable
Comply with consumer protection                           the consumer to make an
standards and mechanisms                                     informed decision.

DISPUTE RESOLUTION               INFORMATION ABOUT USAGE &
                                          AFTER SALES SERVICES
Organizations must provide fair and
timely dispute resolution without         Proper usage, statutory warnings,
undue burden and delay. Consumer          terms of servicing after purchase,
should be encouraged to take              refund and cancellation policy
advantage of such alternate dispute       should be informed
redressal systems.

INFORMATION ABOUT TRANSACTION                 CONFIRMATION PROCESS

Information regarding terms,                  Inform the consumer after
conditions and costs associated with          concluding the purchase process,
the transaction must be cleared written       provide and retain a complete
or stated. A record must be maintained        and accurate record of
for such information and transaction          transactions

ONLINE SECURITY                                   PAYMENT

Strong security measures for protection           Payment gateway must be easy
     and guidance about same to                   to use, secure and free from
              consumers                            fraudulent use of systems

    CONSUMER EDUCATION

Consumer Education towards                                  Misleading
online security is one of the most                        Advertisements
important aspect.
                                                     Special care in advertising
                                                    while targeting kids, the
                                                    elderly and the consumers
                             PRIVACY                suffering from illness as
               Organizations must follow and        they may not be able to
               maintain privacy statement in        understand the full terms
               order to provide appropriate and     and conditions
               effective protection.

.

     CONSUMER IS KING WHEN

       SAFE AND SECURE

THANK YOU