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The Department of Consumer Affairs is examining complaints against quick commerce players for flouting norms regarding mandatory disclosures such as date of expiry and retail sales price among other regarding packaged products sold on their sites.
According to Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, just as offline retailers, e-commerce entities are also required to make six mandatory disclosures regarding products sold on their sites which includes details about the manufacturer, net quantity, best before or use by date, month or year or expiry date, retail sales and name of country of origin.
Nidhi Khare, Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs said, “We are looking at complaints that we have received on the National Consumer Helpline regarding lack of mandatory disclosures regarding products sold on quick commerce platforms.” She added that action will be taken if the platforms are found to be flouting regulations regarding these mandatory disclosures.
This comes at a time when quick commerce players are gaining popularity especially among urban consumers for purchase of grocery, essentials and other products. The development also comes at a time when FMCG distributors have raised concerns about “rapid and unregulated” growth of the quick-commerce sector and have called for an investigation regarding their business models.
Meanwhile, DoCA is also planning to conduct market surveillance to verify claims made by air purifier manufacturers. This will be done to curb deceptive claims made in the air-purifier sector and for protection of consumer rights.
“We are planning to conduct market surveillance and check if the claims made by air-purifier makers regarding their products are accurate or not,” Khare stated. Air-filters already come under the quality control order of BIS under which they need to be in compliance with ISI standards.
Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi on Monday in his remarks at an event to celebrate World Standards Day had expressed concerns over misleading marketing tactics used by air-purifiers and rampant deceptive claims.
With the onset of winter, cities in the northern region see a rise in air-pollution which usually leads to higher demand for air-purifiers.
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