Impact of e commerce on consumer protection laws an international perspective

Abstract

Consumer is at the heart of any business environment and is considered the king of the market. Businesses cannot run in isolation, it always requires a combination of consumer, goods and services. Therefore, it becomes impertinent to protect the rights of the consumers. The advancements in technology and the rise of e-commerce have revolutionized the way consumers interact with businesses, providing unparallel convenience and access to a diverse range of goods and services. With the convenience of online shopping and the vast array of choices available at the click of a button, e commerce has undoubtedly enriched the consumer experience and prompted considerable changes in the consumer protection laws worldwide. The ever-evolving e-commerce landscape requires continuous adaptation of consumer protection laws to effectively address newer issues and challenges because the advent of e-commerce brings with it vast array of difficulties for the consumers which requires stringent laws and regulations. In India, the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, came into effect to bring to attention the needs of the online consumers. These online consumers fall prey to the dark side of the digital age inter-alia unfair trade practices, receiving defective and unsafe products, delivery and return issues, payments scam, misleading advertisements, fake reviews, dark patterns, delay in grievance redressal, issues pertaining to data privacy, personal data security and integration of AI. The growth of e-commerce has impacted the consumer protection laws wherein the list of issues is not exhaustive; it is dynamic and keeps on evolving along with the new advancements in the field of technology. Hence, the need to implement adept laws and regulations is of paramount importance globally. newlineIn this research work, an attempt has been made to analyse the impact of e-commerce on consumer protection laws through international lens, to understand how the advent of e commerce has transformed the consumer protection laws worldwide. newline