The standards will be applicable to every online platform which publishes consumer reviews, and will initially be voluntary for compliance by all e-commerce platforms. BIS will also develop a Conformity Assessment Scheme for the standard to assess compliance, according to a press release by the Indian ministry of consumer affairs, food, and public distribution.
The guiding principles of the standard are integrity, accuracy, privacy, security, transparency, accessibility, and responsiveness. The standard prescribes specific responsibilities for the review author and the review administrator. For the review author, these include confirming acceptance of terms and conditions and providing contact information and for the review administrator, these include safeguarding personal information and training of staff.
Once made mandatory, if required, the violation of the standards by any entity may be considered as an unfair trade practice or violation of consumer rights and a consumer may submit such grievances to the National Consumer Helpline, Consumer Commissions, or the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA).
The standard provides for responsibilities of organisations including developing a code of practice and necessary stipulations for terms and conditions like accessibility, criteria, and ensuring content does not contain financial information, etc.
The standard also provides for methods for verification of the review author through email address, identification by telephone call or SMS, confirming registration by clicking on a link, using captcha system, etc to check the traceability and genuineness of the review author.
With respect to moderation, the standard provides for both automated and manual moderation and provides checks for analysing the review content. As regards to publication, the standard includes considerations for the review administrator at the time of the publication process and after the publication process. The accuracy of the review, default display, and weightage of ratings are defined in the publication process, added the release.
The standard is expected to benefit all stakeholders in the e-commerce ecosystem i.e., consumers, e-commerce platforms, sellers, etc. It will help usher in confidence among consumers to purchase goods online and help them take better purchase decisions.
Taking cognisance of the impact of fake and deceptive reviews and protection of consumer interest in e-commerce, the consumer affairs department had constituted a committee to develop a framework for checking fake and deceptive reviews in e-commerce on June 10, 2022. The committee included various stakeholders including e-commerce companies, industry associations, consumer organisations, and law chairs.
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