Stricter e-commerce norms to come in, flash sales may be history

The government plans to revise the e-commerce regulations in the country and bring about stricter norms, wherein the much talked-about flash sales may prohibited.

As per the new draft regulations, no e-commerce entity shall allow any display or promotion of misleading advertisements, whether in the course of business on its platform or otherwise. 

Further, if the norms come into effect, every e-commerce shall establish an adequate grievance redressal mechanism having regard to the number of grievances ordinarily received by such entity from India. 

Amazon and Flipkart, among others, will have to appoint a Chief Compliance Officer, a Resident Grievance Officer and a nodal contact person in India. 

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), which has long demanded stricter e-commerce norms to protect the interest of offline traders, has hailed the draft norms. 

CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal termed the new draft as a "guiding stone to purify e-commerce landscape of the country which has been greatly vitiated by various e-commerce global companies to the extent that not only the domestic trade has been damaged but even the consumers are also feeling the heat of their unethical business practices".

Khandelwal said that the CAIT will study the new draft rules in depth and will submit its comments.