3 weeks after the new rules apply, most eCommerce sites still not displaying MRP and best before details

21st January 2018, New Delhi: The ecommerce sector has seen major growth in India in the last few years. More and more people are now trusting these online businesses to help them with their daily chores as well as luxury needs. Since it is not possible for the consumers to physically see the products while shopping on ecommerce sites, it is important that right rules and regulations are put in place so that these companies do not get an unfair advantage over the consumers.

The amendment in Packaged Commodity Rules 2017 was one such step in this direction. With it coming into effect from 1st January 2018, LocalCircles conducted a survey to understand what consumer’s experience has been with it in the first 3 weeks while shopping on ecommerce sites. The survey consisted of 2 polls and received more than 16,000 votes.

The first poll asked what was people’s experience on ecommerce sites since 1st Jan 2018, from when they have been mandated to disclose the best before date on limited shelf life products. 20% said they could find this info on less than 20% products and 33% said they could find it on 20-50% such products. Only 13% said they were able to find best before date on all such products while 33% said they could not find it on any such product.

Ecommerce sites are also required to disclose the actual MRPs of all packaged products from 1st Jan 2018. The second poll asked citizens about their first-hand experience with this. 18% said they were able to find MRPs on less than 20% products, 39% said they could find it on 20-50% products, 22% found it on all products and 21% were not able to find an MRP on any packaged product listing.

Many consumers had earlier reported ecommerce sites inflating the product MRP and then offering big discounts to woo the consumers. The new Packaged Commodity Rules will bring this practice to an end. Although consumers are happy with these new regulations, they feel it is important that the Department of Consumer Affairs ensures strict enforcement and imposes strict fines on defaulters.

Examples of some ecommerce companies following the MRP rules:

Examples of some ecommerce companies following the ‘best before/expiry’ rule:

Examples of eCommerce sites not displaying MRP information:

Some examples of eCommerce sites not listing best before date:

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