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India's largest sector: services, online commerce and tourism.

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Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020

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Prelims and Mains

The Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020 govern how a platform may sell to an Indian consumer.

  • The Central Consumer Protection Authority issued guidelines on dark patterns in 2023, and the Authority has penalised firms under them.
  • The 2023 guidelines list 13 dark patterns as unfair trade practices, among them false urgency, basket sneaking, confirm shaming, subscription traps and drip pricing.
What the amendment requires
  • Design

    • Comply with the 2023 dark patterns guidelines
    • Yearly self audit and certificate of compliance
  • Search

    • No manipulation to mislead
    • Clearly disclose sponsored listings
  • Prices

    • Show the reduced and the prior price
    • Prior price is the lowest in the previous 30 days
    • No bundled fees for unrelated services
  • Imports and grievances

    • Disclose importer and country of origin
    • Join the National Consumer Helpline convergence process
From the Press Information Bureau (PIB) release, 10 September 2026

What changed

  1. 10 Sep 2026

    • An amendment notified on 10 September 2026 requires a platform to certify its own interface from 1 January 2027.
    • Before the amendment a platform answered for its interface only when somebody caught it.

    PIB, 10 Sep 2026: Government amends E-Commerce Rules to strengthen consumer protection and promote transparency (opens in a new tab)

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