Bureau of Indian Standards launched a New Guidelines for False Reviews in online portals, which will come into effect from November 25, 2022. The framework for safeguarding and defending consumer interests against false and misleading reviews in e-commerce was introduced by the Department of Consumer Affairs, Government of India. All platforms like e-commerce and other website where online publication of user reviews will be subject to these guidelines.
Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) launched the framework titled Indian Standard (IS) 19000:2022 Online Consumer Reviews — Principles and Requirements for their Collection, Moderation and Publication and which will be come in effect from November 25, 2022 and All online platforms that publish user reviews will be subject to these criteria.
All e-commerce platforms would first be free to voluntarily comply with the norm. In order to evaluate compliance with the standard, Bureau of Indian Standards will also create a conformity assessment scheme.
To combat fraudulent reviews and ratings on e-commerce websites, the Indian government on Monday released regulations that will take effect on November 25, 2022. The new structure was introduced a year after the government suggested stricter regulations to reduce complaints about deceptive reviews and cheating on e-commerce portals.
Once the review is published, customers are not permitted to change it, and they are also not permitted to use vulgar language. The guidelines also state that e-commerce platforms must ensure that customers who post false reviews are barred from doing so in the future.
Once these guidelines become mandatory, if necessary, any organization that violates the requirements may be considered to be engaging in unfair commercial practices or violating consumers’ rights, and in such cases, consumers may file complaints with the National Consumer Helpline, consumer commissions, or the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA).
Impact on Guidelines
Integrity, correctness, privacy, security, transparency, accessibility, and responsiveness are the guiding principles of the standard. Both the review author and the review administrator are given clear obligations under the standard.
For the review author, these include assuring that they have read and agree to the terms and conditions and giving their contact information. For the review administrator, these include protecting personal information and staff training.
The standard outlines the duties of the company, such as creating a code of conduct and required requirements for terms and conditions like accessibility and ensuring that the content doesn’t contain financial information, among other things.
If faked reviews are discovered, the E-commerce platform will be charged with unfair business practices, and a consumer court may then impose penalties.
According Guidelines for False Review, the reviews must be accurate and not deceptive, and the procedure for gathering, reviewing, and publishing customer reviews must be lawful. Additionally, it assures that the privacy of review authors is protected. The Indian government created a framework, which all e-commerce businesses should implement as quickly as feasible and abide by the criteria of.
Advantages of Guidelines for False Reviews
The Guidelines for False Reviews standard is anticipated to be advantageous to all parties involved in the e-commerce ecosystem, including buyers, sellers, and e-commerce platforms.
As per the Press Release from Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, the standard outlines the duties of organizations, such as creating a code of conduct and necessary criteria for terms and conditions including accessibility and ensuring that content doesn’t contain financial information, among other things.
The Guidelines for False Reviews also outlines procedures for authenticating the identity of the review author by email address, identifying via phone call or SMS, confirming registration by clicking on a link, using a captcha system, etc. to determine the review author’s trajectories and veracity.
The Department of Consumer Affairs established a committee to design a framework on reviewing fake and deceptive reviews in e-commerce on June 10, 2022. This committed formed to taking into consideration the impact of false and misleading reviews and protecting the interests of consumers in online shopping. Various parties, including e-commerce companies, trade associations, consumer organizations, and law chairs, were represented on the committee.
Do you want to know more about Fortune Technology LLC ? Feel free to Contact us