CONTENTS
- CONSUMER PROTECTION (E-COMMERCE) RULES 2020 PROPOSED AMENDMENT
- PRADHAN MANTRI GARIB KALYAN ANNA YOJANA
CONSUMER PROTECTION (E-COMMERCE) RULES 2020 PROPOSED AMENDMENT
Focus: Government policies and Interventions
Why in News ?
For the purposes of preventing unfair trade practices in e-commerce Central Government had notified the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020 with effect from 23 July 2020.
Proposed amendments:
Chief Compliance Officer
- It aims to ensure compliance to their orders and deal with compliance of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 and Rules
- A nodal contact person for 24×7 coordination with law enforcement agencies.
- Resident Grievance Officer for redressing of the grievances of the consumers on the e-commerce platform, has been proposed.
- This would ensure effective compliance with the provisions of the Act and Rules
- Also strengthen the grievance redressal mechanism on e-commerce entities.
Framework for registration
- This aims to verify the genuineness of an e-commerce entity before transacting through their platform.
- Every e-commerce entity with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) for allotment of registration number which shall be displayed prominently on website
- Also provide the number in invoice of every order placed the e-commerce entity.
Prohibition of mis-selling
- Selling goods or services by deliberate misrepresentation of information
- This aims to ensure that consumers are aware about the expiry date of the products they are buying on the e-commerce platform
- All inventory e-commerce entities to provide best before or use before date to enable consumers to make an informed purchase decision.
Fair and equal treatment
- To ensure that the domestic manufacturers and suppliers get a fair and equal treatment on the e-commerce platform
- An e-commerce entity offers imported goods or services shall incorporate a filter mechanism to identify goods based on country of origin.
- It should suggest alternatives to ensure fair opportunity to domestic goods.
Failure of delivery of goods
- Provisions of Fall-back liability for every marketplace e-commerce entity have been provided.
- This will ensure that consumers are not adversely affected in the event of delayed, fails to deliver and negligent conduct.
Need for Amendment
- Prevalence of such unfortunate incidents has negatively impacted the consumer and business sentiment in the market, causing immense distress and anguish to many.
- It was observed that there was lack of regulation in e-commerce which required some urgent action.
- Rapid growth of e-commerce platforms also brought into the purview the unfair trade practices of the marketplace
- E-commerce entities engaging in manipulating search result to promote certain sellers, preferential treatment to some sellers, indirectly operating the sellers on their platform
- This impinging the free choice of consumers, selling goods close to expiration.
Aim of Consumer Protection (E-commerce) Rules 2020 Proposed Amendment:
- To protect the interests of consumers, prevent their exploitation and encourage free and fair competition in the market
- The proposed amendments aim to bring transparency in the e-commerce platforms and further strengthen the regulatory regime to curb the prevalent unfair trade practices.
PRADHAN MANTRI GARIB KALYAN ANNA YOJANA
Focus: GS II- Government policies and Interventions
Why in news?
Central Government agency Food Corporation of India supplies 76.72 LMT free food grains to all 36 States/ UTs under PMGKAY for May and June 2021
About Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana:
- It is considered as world’s largest food security scheme, aims at ensuring sufficient food for the poor and needy during the coronavirus crisis.
- It was announced as part of the first relief package during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Part of the scheme, the food needs to be provided to all the beneficiaries under public distribution system (TPDS) for Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and priority household (PHH) ration cardholders.
- As per updates, the eligible beneficiaries will receive 5kg of foodgrains and 1 kg Gram per month.
Eligibility
- Families belonging to the Below Poverty Line – Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and Priority Households (PHH) categories will be eligible for the scheme.
- PHH are to be identified by State Governments/Union Territory Administrations as per criteria evolved by them. AAY families are to be identified by States/UTs as per the criteria prescribed by the Central Government:
- Households headed by widows or terminally ill persons or disabled persons or persons aged 60 years or more with no assured means of subsistence or societal support.
- Widows or terminally ill persons or disabled persons or persons aged 60 years or more or single women or single men with no family or societal support or assured means of subsistence.
- All primitive tribal households.
- Landless agriculture labourers, marginal farmers, rural artisans/craftsmen such as potters, tanners, weavers, blacksmiths, carpenters, slum dwellers, and persons earning their livelihood on daily basis in the informal sector like porters, coolies, rickshaw pullers, hand cart pullers, fruit and flower sellers, snake charmers, rag pickers, cobblers, destitutes and other similar categories in both rural and urban areas.
- All eligible Below Poverty Line families of HIV positive persons.
