The Impact of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 on E-Commerce Entities

Abstract

The President of India gave his assent to the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 (the "New Act"), which was published in the official gazette on August 9, 2019. The existing Consumer Protection Act of 1986 ('Old Act') will be replaced by this New Act. The MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION (Department of Consumer Affairs) has issued Notification No. S.O. 2351(E) dated 15th July 2020 ('the Said Notification') in which the Central Government has appointed the 20th day of July 2020 as the date on which various provisions of the said Act shall come into force, in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (3) of section 1 of the New Act. After three decades, the Consumer Protection Act of 1986 is repealed and replaced with the Consumer Protection Act of 2019. In the age of digitalization, the Consumer Protection Act of 2019 was adopted to broaden the scope of consumer rights to include e-commerce, direct selling, teleshopping, and other multi-levels of marketing.