Government Calls Meeting With E-Commerce Players To Address Fake Online Reviews Issue

The government has called a meeting of e-commerce players and organisations engaged in publishing online reviews for consultation on quality control order in the works to check fake reviews, according to a notice issued by the Consumer Affairs Ministry.

The consumer affairs ministry has also floated a draft of the Online Consumer Reviews (Quality Control) Order, 2024 (QCO) which proposes to accept reviews from verified purchasers and users of the product.

'This QCO mandates all the e-commerce aggregators and organisations engaged in publishing online reviews to declare self-compliance to the essential requirement prescribed in the order...

'An organisation is required to register with BIS and declare compliance to essential requirements. In this regard, a stakeholder consultation, chaired by Secretary (CA), to discuss the draft QCO has been scheduled on May 15, 2024,' the notice said.

The draft QCO mandates that the organisations shall not publish reviews that have been purchased and written by individuals employed for writing review by itself or the supplier, seller, or by a third party.

The consumer affairs ministry has proposed that all organisations managing and publishing online consumer reviews shall conform to the essential requirements, including bar on publishing fake reviews and register themselves as 'Review Administrator' with BIS declaring self-compliance to the essential requirements prescribed in this order.

The proposed QCO bars platforms from rewarding consumers based on the content, edit reviews, prevent publishing of negative reviews and accepting reviews from individuals who have not used or experienced the good or service.