Government made rules to prevent fake online reviews in India

Companies like Amazon and Flipkart, involved in the e-commerce business in India, will now have to make public information about paid consumer reviews of all products and services available on their platforms.

The government has announced new rules to curb fake reviews and help customers make informed decisions based on accurate information.

Apart from this, the government has also banned the publication of reviews that have been paid for or written by people who have been appointed for the same work by the supplier or by third parties.

These rules of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) have been prepared after consultation with the concerned parties and will come into force from 25 November 2022. Adherence to these rules has been kept voluntary for the time being, but if the problem of fake reviews continues on online platforms, the government will consider making it mandatory.

Rohit Kumar Singh, Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs told on Monday, 21 November 2022 that these rules of BIS will be applicable to all those organizations which publish online consumer reviews.

These include suppliers providing products and services, a company collecting reviews from its customers, or a third party entrusted with the task.

Rohit Kumar Singh told that BIS will start the certification process for this in the next 15 days so that the customers will be able to know whether the online platforms are following these rules or not. E-commerce company can apply for certification to BIS for this.