Parliament Question: Consumer Protection Measures in the Growing e-Commerce Sector

Government of India Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Department of Consumer Affairs LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2832 TO BE ANSWERED ON 05.08.2026 CONSUMER PROTECTION MEASURES IN THE GROWING E-COMMERCE SECTOR

2832. SMT. ROOPKUMARI CHOUDHARY:

Will the Minister of CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC

DISTRIBUTION be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government has taken note of the increasing complaints regarding denial or delay of refunds by e-commerce platforms despite valid return requests by consumers and if so, the details thereof;

(b) the number of such complaints received through the National Consumer Helpline and other grievance redressal mechanisms during the last three years; and

(c) the steps taken or proposed to be taken by the Government to ensure timely refunds and effective enforcement of the Consumer Protection (e-Commerce) Rules, 2020? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION (SHRI B.L.VERMA)

(a) to (c) : The National Consumer Helpline (NCH) administered by the Department of Consumer Affairs has emerged as a single point of access to consumers across the country for their grievance redressal at a pre-litigation stage.

Consumers can register their grievances from all over the country in 17 languages including Hindi, English, Kashmiri, Punjabi, Nepali, Gujarati, Marathi, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Maithili, Santhali, Bengali, Odia, Assamese and Manipuri through a toll-free number 1915. These grievances can be registered on Integrated Grievance Redressal Mechanism (INGRAM), an omnichannel IT enabled central portal, through various channels- WhatsApp (8800001915), SMS (8800001915), email (nch-ca@gov.in), the NCH app, the web portal (consumerhelpline.gov.in) and the Umang app, as per their convenience. 1,853 companies, who have voluntarily partnered with NCH, as part of the ‘Convergence’ programme directly respond to these grievances according to their redressal process and revert by providing a feedback to the complainant on the portal.

The details of the total number of complaints of the nature "paid amount not refunded" received on the National Consumer Helpline (NCH) in the e-commerce sector during the last three years are as under:Year Received 2023 71,147 2024 55,584 2025 53,364 All these dockets have been disposed of by NCH The National Consumer Helpline (NCH) has successfully facilitated refunds amounting to over ₹91 crore (including over ₹63 Crore with regard to the grievances pertaining to e-commerce sector) to consumers between 25th April 2025 and 30th June 2026 by effectively addressing over 1,47,000 consumer grievances related to refund claims at the pre-litigation stage.

The Department of Consumer Affairs notified the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020 on 23rd July, 2020 under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, to prevent unfair trade practices and protect consumers in the e- commerce sector. As per the provisions of these rules, every e-commerce entity shall endeavour to become the partner in the convergence process of the National Consumer Helpline and must appoint a grievance officer and prominently display the officer’s name, designation, and contact details on its platform. The grievance officer shall acknowledge any consumer complaint within forty-eight hours and redress it within one month from the date of receipt. Consent of a consumer can be recorded only through explicit and affirmative action and not through pre-ticked checkboxes or automatic means. No e-commerce entity shall manipulate the price of goods or services to gain unreasonable profit or impose unjustified prices, nor shall it discriminate between consumers of the same class or make arbitrary classifications that affect consumer rights under the Act.

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