In last 8 months, there were as many as 5,620 fraud cases by e-commerce companies in India.

That’s a worrying 13 per cent more than what it was in the last financial year.

This information was shared by Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, in the Lok Sabha.

Despite laws, such frauds are continuously growing. The number of fraud dockets (financial year wise) registered under the e-commerce platform at the National Consumer Helpline (NCH) are given below:

Financial year Fraud online shopping cases 12 Aug. 2016-Mar.17 977 Apr. 2017-Mar.18 2, 441 Apr. 2018-Mar.19 4,955 Apr. 2019-Nov.19 5,620 Total 13,993

As per India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF), a Trust of Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, apparel, with 29 per cent, is the second highest category solely through e-commerce, while electronics is the biggest contributor with 48 per cent.

The e-commerce has transformed the way business is done in India. The Indian e-commerce market is expected to grow to US$ 200 billion by 2026 from US$ 38.5 billion as of 2017.

The Consumer Protection Act, 1986 has been enacted to better protect the interests of the consumers. It covers all goods and services and all mode of transactions including e-commerce. Under the provision of the said Act, a three-tier quasi-judicial mechanism, called Consumer Fora, where consumer can file a complaint against any unfair trade practices including those on e-commerce is provided.

Also, from August 2016, the portal www.consumerhelpline.gov.in has been developed to provide a platform to consumers to register their complaints. Further, the NCH has partnered with some companies to resolve their customer complaints. This is an alternate grievance redressal method, and is a completely voluntary initiative taken up by these companies.

NCH advise to consumers for fraudulent transactions is to lodge an FIR/make a police complaint or to Cyber Cell, if company is not traceable.

“We should see these number of frauds compared to overall number of transactions. As e-commerce business is growing tremendously in India, every fraud naturally puts a pressure on e-commerce company, so it is good that such frauds are being noticed and reported,” says Devangshu Dutta, CEO, Third Eyesight (consulting organisation for Retail and Consumer Goods Sector).