Overview
- The Department of Consumer Affairs issued the Consumer Protection (E‑Commerce) (Amendment) Rules, 2026 on Thursday, September 10, 2026, and set January 1, 2027 as the date platforms must implement the new requirements.
- Marketplaces must show both a reduced price and the prior price when announcing discounts, with prior price defined as the lowest price in the 30 days before the discount.
- Platforms are barred from manipulating search results in ways that mislead users and must clearly label paid or sponsored listings so buyers can tell them apart from organic results.
- E‑commerce entities must integrate with the National Consumer Helpline, give complainants a recorded copy of their complaint, run annual self‑audits for dark patterns and prominently display a compliance certificate.
- The rules also force marketplaces to get express affirmative consent before using consumer data, disclose importer and country‑of‑origin for imports, and stop bundled fees for unrelated services which will change how platforms operate and handle complaints.