Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Ashwini Kumar Choubey on Wednesday said in the Lok Sabha the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has issued advisories to e-commerce companies to desist from manufacturing, selling or listing products that are dangerous to the lives of the consumers. Key among these are against the sale of car seat belt alarm stopper clips and wireless jammers.

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Under the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, a CCPA has been established to regulate misleading advertisements. The CCPA has advised all marketplace e-commerce platforms to display information provided by sellers as per the E-Commerce Rules, 2020.

The press release said CCPA has also issued two safety notices cautioning consumers against buying goods that do not hold valid ISI Mark and violate compulsory BIS standards, such as helmets, pressure cookers, cooking gas cylinders and other household products.

The Minister added that the department has noticed the emergence of unfair trade practices known as “dark patterns” which involve using design and choice architecture to deceive or influence consumers into making choices. As per him, e-commerce companies have been asked to avoid such practices.

The Consumer Protection Act, 2019 was enacted to replace the Consumer Protection Act 1986. It provides for improved protection for consumers involved in online transactions. The new act has widened the scope of the definition of "consumer" to include persons who buy or avail of goods or services online or through electronic means which was not present in the earlier act.

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(Edited by : Sangam Singh)