Consumer Ministry readies safety pledge for ecommerce sites

Ecommerce companies will be expected to recall any hazardous or unsafe item being sold on their platform within 36 hours of being informed, as a part of a safety pledge being drafted by the government to prevent the sale of unsafe goods to consumers through online marketplaces.

"They (ecommerce companies) will also have to cooperate with government officials to identify the seller who is doing so (selling unsafe goods)," consumer affairs secretary Nidhi Khare said on Monday.

These are among the proposals considered by a committee constituted by the consumer affairs ministry to draft the safety pledge for ecommerce platforms. The panel, which includes members from major ecommerce platforms, voluntary consumer associations, industry bodies and National Law Universities, is expected to submit its report in two weeks. The department is actively looking at international best practices such as in the European Union and Japan to adopt them, aimed at detecting and preventing the sale of unsafe goods to consumers on online platforms. The government has also set up a committee to finalise the draft guidelines for surrogate advertising, Khare said.