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 the consumer can file a complaint against any unfair trade practices including those on e-commerce is provided.
The financial year the wise number of fraud dockets registered under the e-commerce platform at the National Consumer Helpline is as under:
| Financial Year | Fraud Online shopping Cases |
| 12 Aug. 2016- Mar.17 | 977 |
| April2017-Mar.18 | 2, 441 |
| April2018-Mar.19 | 4,955 |
| April2019-Nov.19 | 5,620 |
| Total | 13,993 |
From August 2016, the portal www.consumerhelpline.gov.in has been developed to provide a platform to consumers to register their complaints. Further, the National Consumer Helpline (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 advice to consumers for fraudulent transactions is to lodge an FIR /make a police Complaint or to Cyber Cell if the company is not traceable.
This information was given by the Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.
