The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) recently published its draft E-Commerce– Principles and Guidelines for Self-Governance (draft BIS guidelines). The draft BIS guidelines aim to implement self-governance principles that will apply to the various stages of online purchasing. They also seek to introduce obligations on entities involved in the e-commerce ecosystem, including e-commerce entities, sellers operating on such platforms and other relevant participants. Although they are not at present mandatory, the broad scope of the draft BIS guidelines raises concerns of regulatory overreach. In many cases, they also overlap with existing compliance requirements.
Ameet Datta
Managing counsel
ADP Law Offices
A number of the provisions in the draft BIS guidelines are already dealt with by existing law. In particular, many of the situations they seek to overcome are addressed in the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, and the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020. The Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations, 2018, govern the aspects of unsolicited commercial communications. Such legislations and regulations already provide a comprehensive and enforceable framework for e-commerce operations, obviating the need to create overlapping obligations, even through a self-governance structure.
In fact, the draft BIS guidelines do not fill regulatory gaps. Instead, they go beyond the prescriptions of the existing statutory provisions. They seek to introduce obligations such as providing information on environmental impact of all products, product comparison features, providing search functionality for country of origin and keyword search, and publishing information on product licences at a prominent place near the listing. In this way, the draft BIS guidelines not only introduce onerous requirements that will require significant time and resource investment by e-commerce entities but will also lead to information overload for consumers. The cumulative effect of these statutes, regulations and guidelines is a fragmented regulatory framework governing e-commerce entities. This can only lead to regulatory confusion.
Rishikaa
Senior associate
ADP Law Offices
In addition, the draft BIS guidelines refer to the Indian Standard (IS) 19000:2022. This IS stipulates the principles and requirements for the collection, moderation and publication of online consumer reviews. IS 19000:2022 was developed to deal with the growing problem of fake and deceptive consumer reviews. However, the compliance with IS 19000:2022 is at present voluntary. Further, the Central Consumer Protection Authority is holding consultations in connection with the Draft Guidelines for Prevention, Regulation and Remediation of Fake Online Consumer Reviews, 2024. These seek to enforce the principles and requirements contained in IS 19000:2022, making the reference to the standard in the draft BIS guidelines redundant at this stage.
Apart from the legal issues, the draft BIS guidelines overlook the number of operational and logistical requirements that will be imposed on businesses. Compliance with such requirements could place a disproportionate burden on day-to-day operations. This may also inadvertently disrupt platform designs, functionality, and user interfaces, thereby affecting the overall consumer experience.
Anindita Deb
Associate
ADP Law Offices
Existing laws and regulations governing various aspects of the e-commerce life cycle make it unnecessary to introduce an additional layer of self-governance. Such additional requirements do not enhance the certainty of compliance. Instead, they introduce new and overlapping obligations that increase regulatory complexity. This not only imposes additional compliance burdens on businesses but also creates ambiguity in implementing the guidelines. This undermines the objective of having a clear and predictable regulatory framework.
Further, the draft BIS guidelines will also hinder the ease of doing business environment that the government aims to achieve. It is thus essential that the draft BIS guidelines, if introduced in their current form, remain voluntary. A decision to make compliance mandatory must involve further stakeholder consultation. It must prioritise statutory clarity, regulatory discipline and practical enforcement. This will ensure a harmonised compliance framework for e-commerce entities.
Ameet Datta is managing counsel, Rishikaa is a senior associate and Anindita Deb is an associate at ADP Law Offices
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