Govt mulls mandatory quality norms for ecommerce reviews amid fraud

The government is considering making it mandatory for ecommerce companies to comply with quality norms for consumer reviews after a voluntary push failed to effectively curb fake reviews, a top official said on Monday.

The government issued new quality norms for e-tailers a year ago, prohibiting them from publishing paid reviews and demanding disclosure of such promotional content.

But fake reviews of products and services on ecommerce platforms are still slipping through, said Nidhi Khare, Secretary at the Consumer Affairs Ministry.

"It's been more than one year since the voluntary standard on 'online reviews' was notified. Some entities claim that they are complying with it. However, fake reviews are still getting published," Khare told PTI.

"To safeguard the consumer interest, now we want to make these standards mandatory," she said, adding that the ministry has scheduled a meeting with e-commerce firms and consumer organisations on May 15 to discuss the proposed move.

The ministry's Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) formulated and issued the new standard for "Online Consumer Reviews" in November 2022, which barred the publishing of reviews "purchased and/or written by individuals employed for that purpose by the supplier or third party concerned".

With no chance to physically inspect products, consumers heavily rely on online reviews while making purchases. Misleading reviews and ratings can lead them to purchase goods or services based on incorrect information.

The proposed move is in the backdrop of a booming India's online retail sector. The sector is projected to surge to $325 billion by 2030 from $70 billion in 2022, as per a report by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India.