India's major e-commerce companies, including Amazon, Flipkart, Google and Meta, have supported the government's proposal to enforce quality standards for consumer reviews. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs announced this development on Wednesday after a meeting with these stakeholders. This proposal aims to implement the IS 19000:2022 standard on “Online Consumer Reviews”.
fake consumer reviews
Representatives from these companies agreed that mandatory compliance is important to protect consumers from misleading reviews on shopping websites and apps. A draft order will be published for public consultation shortly.
“The discussion on the transition to the IS 19000:2022 Quality Control Directive was welcomed by stakeholders and reinforced the general understanding that tackling fake reviews is important to protect consumer interests when shopping online. A consensus was reached,” the ministry said.
Consumer Affairs Secretary Nidhi Khare, who chaired the meeting, emphasized the importance of this standard. She noted that online shoppers rely heavily on product reviews that cannot be physically inspected. “The presence of fake reviews online threatens the credibility of the platform and can lead to incorrect purchasing decisions,” the agency said in a statement.
The IS 19000:2022 standard establishes specific responsibilities for review authors and administrators. Require review authors to be identified, prohibit editing of reviews to change the message, and prohibit actions that prevent or deter negative reviews.
The move follows the failure of voluntary efforts to effectively curb fake reviews. According to a report by the Consumer Affairs Agency, e-commerce-related complaints have soared, rising from 95,270 in 2018 to 4,44,034 in 2023, accounting for 43% of all registered complaints. .
The government had previously issued voluntary quality standards for e-tailers, including banning paid reviews and requiring disclosure of promotional content. However, these voluntary codes did not significantly reduce fake reviews.
Consumer activist Pushpa Girimji, who attended the meeting, emphasized the importance of enforcement. She said: “Enforcement of such standards will be key to effectively checking the threat of fake reviews.”
Stakeholder support is an important step towards ensuring the credibility of online reviews, thereby increasing consumer trust in e-commerce platforms.
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