INDIA’S E-COMMERCE POLICY

INDIA’S E-COMMERCE POLICY

E- commerce is commercial transactions conducted electronically on the Internet. THIS IS A SIMPLE DEFINATION OF E- COMMERCE. IN DETAIL, E-COMMERCE IS A SUBGROUP OF E-BUSINESS, IS THE SELLING, purchasing and exchanging of goods over computer network and internet through applications, websites or social media platforms, their almost transactions are also almost performed electronically using online payments methods.

E-commerce has four main types:

    B2B (Business-to-Business)
Companies doing business with each other such as manufacturers selling to distributors and wholesalers selling to retailers. Pricing is based on quantity of order and is often negotiable.

  B2C (Business-to-Consumer)
Businesses selling to the general public typically through catalogues utilizing shopping cart software. By dollar volume, B2B takes the prize, however B2C is really what the average Joe has in mind with regards to ecommerce as a whole.

  C2B (Consumer-to-Business)
A consumer posts his project with a set budget online and within hours companies review the consumer’s requirements and bid on the project. The consumer reviews the bids and selects the company that will complete the project. Elance empowers consumers around the world by providing the meeting ground and platform for such transactions.

  C2C (Consumer-to-Consumer)
There are many sites offering free classifieds, auctions, and forums where individuals can buy and sell thanks to online payment systems like PayPal where people can send and receive money online with ease. eBay’s auction service is a great example of where person-to-person transactions take place everyday since 1995.

If  a person wants to start a online business or take the existing business online, he/she need to follow some laws. The law differs in every country. E commerce sector of india has a annual growth of 39% (average) since 2009.

E-commerce in India

India has 475 million internet users in July 2019. Cash on delivery is most preferred method of payment in India. There are 19000+ E-commerce companies in India.

There are many frauds that take place during or after online shopping with people that are:

Stealing of identity in this the fraudsters use someone else identity for shopping oe use someone else credit or debit card or paytm.

Also, sending defect products, to the customer and not refunding money or exchanging the defect piece come under frauds.

One of the biggest fraud is credit card fraud in which details of the user is steals and used for payment and online shopping without his/her permission.

Refund fraud, this is the fraud done by the buyer in which he/she claims that the product is not received by him/her or is not delivered (in actual the product is delivered). The refund is claimed by the buyer from the company.

Phishing, is a cybercrime in which a target or targets are contacted by email, telephone or text message by someone posing as a legitimate institution to lure individuals into providing sensitive data such as personally identifiable information, banking and credit card details, and passwords.

Merchant fraud, In this fraud scheme, a merchant applies for a merchant account without any intention of actually operating a legitimate business. These merchant accounts are then used to process fraudulent transactions or to acquire lines of credit before abandoning the account altogether.

Now, this are some E commerce laws in India:-

Information Technology Act, 2000

The first ever law enacted by the government of India on E commerce was information technology act 2000. The main objective of act was to provide legal recognition to the transaction carried out by people. It also facilities E governance and E commerce in the country. It lay out rules, regulations and punishments for different crimes and offences. It also provide for civil liability. It contains provisions for legal recognition of electronic modes and digital signature rules for attribution of the record, for manner of acknowledgement, for determining time and place of dispatch and receipts.

Information Technology Act {Amendment}, 2008

The act brought many changes like E signatures,  section 66A: do not send offensive messages, section 67 and 67A: no nudity, section 69A and the blocking policies: allowing the government to block content under certain circumstances, section 79 and the IT rules: privatising censorship in india. It was amended to make it more technology-neutral and safe for users.

Validity of E contracts

Indian contract act 1887 governs are e contract that are done by users. Acceptance of the terms and conditions of any purchase made online creates a implied contract between buyer and seller. The terms and conditions are should be according to indian contract act,1887 and information technology act 2008.

Issues Of Intellectual Property Rights

The internet has no boundary with minimum regulations and that’s why the protection of intellectual property rights is challenge and a major concerns among E business. India has well-defined legal and regulatory frame work for protection of IPRs.

Jurisdiction Of Disputes

When some problem arise or there is dispute between the buyer and seller in payment, order, delivery, refund or damage piece etc. the setback can be irreversible and to be addressed with expediency. Settlement of disputes in the B2C segment, is especially challenging. Usually disputes settled within the physical territory where one or both of the disputants are located. Different principles are followed by different nation or state jurisdiction accordingly.

Privacy Issues And Laws

Apart from the collection of primary data from the buyers, the online platforms may collect personal information , a variety of other indirect but very sensitive information such as personal choices and preference. The IT act deals with the concepts of violation in limited sense, it says that privacy is violated of a person when it is deemed to be posting images where images of her body parts are captured and published without her proper permission and where she had a reasonable expectation of privacy and the punishment of imprisonment of up to 3 years and/or fine up to INR 2lakhs.

Conclusion

India is a developing country and day by day becoming modern. In country like India E commerce is increasing on rapid growth. And this rapid growth has created the need for vibrant and effective regulatory mechanisms. Strengthening the legal system in India will give success to E commerce in India. It is always said that India has weak cyber laws, do not have strict laws and regulations, and no proper E commerce regulatory framework are the reason for what Indian people as well as the E commerce industries face many so many challenges in enjoying a consumer friendly E-commerce in India. India has no e-commerce regulatory law other that IT act. So, the Indian government should have proper framework for e commerce law so that both national and international e-commerce flourish.

  By – pooja Yadav