The country’s largest online marketplaces Flipkart, Amazon, Paytm and Snapdeal are yet to clearly display names, addresses and other contact details of all sellers on product listings featured on their platforms, despite being mandated by the revised guidelines on ecommerce issued on December 26.
The regulation was first announced as part of Press Note 3 by the government in March 2016.
ET has found that several product listings across the marketplaces did not display details of sellers. In some cases, their full names were also not mentioned.
“It’s something that marketplaces need to comply with. There’s no scope for any kind of ambiguity in the law. It’s a simple requirement and a very straightforward provision. Quite a few ecommerce companies are not doing this and there’s no excuse for them not to comply with the law,” said Suneeth Katarki, founding partner at IndusLaw.
The revised policy puts the onus of delivery, warranty and customer service on the seller and not the marketplace. Today if a customer is unhappy with a product on these platforms, there is no way to get in touch with the seller directly. Instead all grievances will be routed through the marketplace.
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At present, these marketplaces redirect customers to their own online help centres, prompting users to lodge complaints with them rather than take up the issue directly with sellers. For instance, Amazon. in displays the address of its own headquarters in Bengaluru in the section meant to display the seller’s address.
