CAI has made a representation to Union commerce ministry seeking a separate regulator and redressal forum
Flipkart's Big Billion Day sale and a series of similar cyber discount wars by other online firms had seen a 100 per cent growth in e-commerce transactions during the last two quarters, consumer forums are crammed with complaints of undelivered
Chennai: While Flipkart’s Big Billion Day sale and a series of similar cyber discount wars by other online firms had seen a 100 per cent growth in e-commerce transactions during the last two quarters, consumer forums are crammed with complaints of undelivered goods, counterfeit products and broken promises.“We are now increasingly getting calls about e-commerce purchases” said Ms Nirmala Desikan, chairman and managing trustee of Consumer Association of India (CAI).
Among the most common complaints are wrong delivery, defective product, lack of warranty, delay in delivery and refunds. “Most times, what you see is not what you get. As screen resolutions of computers don't match, the colour and texture of the product displayed and delivered does not match,” said Ms Desikan. "Also, customers fail to read the fine print, especially on refunds and returns, making the resolutions difficult,” she added.
With the market place model in place, wherein the companies source products from a host of small buyers across the country, most of them do not take responsibility for the product delivered. This has left customers in the lurch and clueless about whom to contact for redressal.There has been a 73 per cent increase in customer complaints that have shifted to marketplace models against 27 per cent of those dealing things directly, said Mr R. Krishnan, a consumer activist, quoting last year’s data.
The CAI has made a representation to the Union commerce ministry, seeking a separate regulator and redressal forum for online transactions and guidelines for assessing the genuineness of these sites.“There is a need for e-commerce companies to invest in customer experience,” said Mr Ankur Singla, founder and CEO, Akosha.com, a site that handles consumer complaints. “Unless the websites ramp up customer service, consumers will not trade customer experience for offers and discounts, he pointed out.
( Source : dc )
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