Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) (Amendment) Rules, 2026
AI / PRIVACY / CYBER RELEVANCE
Amends consumer-law duties for platform ranking, search manipulation, sponsored listings and dark patterns; these amendments commence on 1 January 2027.
AI: HighPrivacy: ModerateCybersecurity: Contextual
READ FIRST
- Rule 3(1)(j) - substituted definition of ranking, irrespective of the technological means used
- Rule 4(11)(c) and the new sub-rules after Rule 4(11) - search manipulation, sponsored listings, prior price, seller name on invoice, Dark Patterns Guidelines compliance with yearly self-audit and certificate
- Rule 4(5) - grievance acknowledgement in 48 hours and redress within one month
- Rule 5(3) - seller and product disclosures and the main parameters of ranking
PURVIEW
Amends the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020 to regulate how platforms present, rank and price goods and services. It substitutes the definition of ranking in Rule 3(1)(j) so that it covers relative prominence given to sellers or goods irrespective of the technological means used, which brings algorithmic and AI-driven ranking squarely within the Rules. Rule 4 now requires entity-identity and grievance-officer disclosures, acknowledgement of complaints within forty-eight hours and redress within one month, importer and country-of-origin details, participation in the National Consumer Helpline convergence process, a bar on misleading users by manipulating search results or search indexes, distinct identification of sponsored listings, display of the prior price (the lowest price in the thirty days before a price reduction), the seller's name on invoices, and compliance with the Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 2023 with a yearly self-audit and a displayed certificate. Rule 5 expands marketplace seller and product disclosures and requires the main ranking parameters and their relative importance to be explained publicly. What the instrument itself says concerns consumer-facing transparency; it does not regulate personal data as such. Where platforms use consumer information for targeting, personalisation or seller promotion, the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 must be read alongside it as a separate, contextual layer.
Classification and legal status. Binding amendment to the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020, made under Section 101(2)(zg) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019; Notified amendment taking effect on 1 January 2027.