New e-commerce rules explained: Know about changes that could affect your online shopping

The Department of Consumer Affairs has made changes to India’s Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, which were originally introduced in 2020. The new rules will take effect from January 1, 2027, strengthening consumer protection and making online shopping more transparent.

For consumers, the changes could revamp how they do shopping online, how prices are displayed, how fees are charged, and how transactions are handled. Here’s what's changing:

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Discount and price transparency: An e-commerce platform must show the discounted price and the "prior price" together, defined as the lowest price offered for the product or service in the preceding 30 days.  The move aims to help shoppers understand whether discount percentages are actually genuine.

Search result integrity: Platforms will be prohibited from manipulating search rankings to artificially prioritise costlier or in-house items.

Sponsored listing disclosure: Paid or sponsored product placements must be displayed with prominent labels to separate them from organic search results.

2023 Dark Pattern Guidelines: Platforms must follow the 2023 Dark Pattern Guidelines with a yearly self-audit and display a certificate of compliance. This helps avoid false urgency, basket sneaking, and subscription traps.

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Bundled fee restrictions: E-commerce platforms cannot add or bundle fees that are unrelated to the purchase.

More information on products and sellers: Product listings must show important details such as best-before dates, return and warranty policies, payment terms, and the origin for imported products.

User privacy: E-commerce giants cannot use consumers' data for any secondary purposes without their consent.

Grievances: Consumers will have greater visibility into how complaints are being handled. E-commerce platforms will be required to share a copy of the complaint recorded by their grievance officer and connect with the National Consumer Helpline (NCH) through its convergence system.