Govt. of India Standards for Online Consumer Reviews

While buying anything online, availing any service or simply browsing, the reviews posted by others play a vital role in convincing the buyer if they should continue shopping or not. Considering the importance of such reviews, it does not make sense to allow inapt reviews to be posted online. As such, the Government of India has laid down some standards for online consumer reviews on eCommerce platforms.

• These guidelines must be adhered to while making any reviews online. This will not only help ensure that genuine reviews are published online, but to safeguard consumers from fake and deceptive reviews as well.

In November 2022, the Government released a comprehensive list of guidelines that defined the standards for online reviews on all platforms that publish a consumer review. With the release of these guidelines, India has become the first country in the world to establish such norms for online consumer reviews.

Online reviews majorly have a significant impact on consumers in three sectors – consumers durables, tour & travel and restaurants & eateries. When visiting a new restaurant or travelling to a random city, almost everyone goes online to know more about the place to prepare for it beforehand. To make sure people make the best decision for themselves, the Government of India decided to set these standards. Besides, this shall allow the authorities to take apt action against any defaulting individual as well.

The individual managing the reviews in any organization shall be called a ‘Review Administrator’.

• The standards shall even be appliable on independent third-party entities that post any form of reviews on any online platform.
• These standards aim to focus on apt disclosure, which is basically asking the entities to mention the period when reviews were collected, so the consumers are not misled.
• Besides, it will also allow consumers to know if some issue faced by the company, as mentioned by reviewers, has been fixed or not.

The Online Consumer Review Standards

As per the new Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) standards on ‘Online Consumer Reviews’, from 25 November 2022, all eCommerce players, travel and ticketing portals and online food delivery platforms must voluntarily disclose all paid or sponsored reviews about products and services offered on their portals.

Reviews that have been purchased or written by people ‘employed specifically for this purpose’ shall not be published on the portals.

Failing to comply with the Bureau of India’s (BIS) standards shall be considered an unfair trade practice and lead to legal action under the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act.

• The BIS shall draft a conformity assessment scheme to provide certifications to websites complying with such requirements for reviews. The websites would then display these certifications, informing consumers of the authenticity of their reviews.
• The committee responsible for developing the final draft of standards included representatives of all big players, including from companies like Meta and Google. This ensures high compliance with these standards, as fake reviews not only harm companies individually but often the entire market as well.

Feedback systems like reviews are powerful tools vital for consumer interest.

Review Author Verification

The standards on Online Consumer Reviews also define certain methods for author review verification, such as through email, telephonic call or SMS, clicking on a link (when confirming registration), using captcha system, etc. to check the traceability and genuineness of the review author.

• Once implemented, these standards shall not allow consumers to edit their reviews for products and services.
• Under these standards, the structure shall not allow consumers to publish any fake reviews.
• The authors or publishers of reviews shall be required to undergo a verification using their email IDs or mobile numbers.

These standards shall benefit everyone involved in the eCommerce system including eCommerce platforms, consumers and sellers.

The standards shall be initially voluntary and eCommerce platforms may choose whether they will comply with them. These standards also include the responsibilities of review publishers and review administrators and clarify the various aspects of reviews that they must pay attention to.

Guiding Principles for eCommerce Platforms

The standards have been drafted keeping in mind the fact that different processes such as collection, moderation and publication of eCommerce platforms may be performed by different entities. However, the standards will be applicable to the reviews that have been published online, irrespective of the method of their collection.

Platforms must ensure to adhere to the following guiding principles:

• Integrity: Websites must only reflect the reviews of ‘genuine review authors who have submitted the review after acquiring the product/service’.
• Privacy: All personal details of review authors must be protected.
• Accuracy: The process of gathering, managing and publishing consumer reviews, as accurate as reasonably possible, which means that it is apt, latest and not published for misleading purposes.
• Accessibility: All reviews should be easy to find and must be readily available in a clear and simple format so that they can be read and understood by suppliers, consumers, sellers, etc.
• Security: All processes should have an ‘anti-fraud mechanism’ that would safeguard all data and prevent any internal and external fraud.
• Transparency: Websites must be transparent about all their processes and ownership, which may influence the consumer’s decision to purchase.
• Responsiveness: Platforms must try to respond to all communications related to reviews from consumers, sellers, suppliers, and other interested parties at the earliest. The lesser time taken to respond, the better it is.
• Terms & Conditions: Platforms must create a written set of Terms and Conditions that shall define the rules and regulations for anyone that wishes to submit a review. These T&Cs should be easily accessible, and it should be communicated that failing to comply with them would result in rejection or removal of the review. The T&Cs must note that the review needs to be a genuine personal consumer experience and should be, to the best of the author’s knowledge, factually correct. Besides, all T&Cs must prohibit usage of any defamatory language, remarks, marketing materials, etc.

Communication with Sellers

Platforms must set up communication channels with sellers offering products and services on their website to share any reviews and feedback received by them with these sellers. The review administrator must create a ‘seamless communication channel’ to allow contact from and with sellers.

• Review administrators shall be responsible to convey to sellers of products/services any reviews or feedback related to any safety concerns or potential issues that have been highlighted in the reviews/feedback received.
• In addition, sellers must have the option to ‘register as a business’ to create a profile online and receive alerts for any new consumer review shared for their product/service.

Conclusion

Platforms must strive to regularly update and enhance their product/service offerings by monitoring, learning from and responding to reviews shared by consumers. Websites must leverage the feedback to create new strategies, improve process efficiency, promote innovation, train their staff, and other similar tasks that shall help improve the overall business. Although you need to communicate the consumer’s feedback to the seller, you must also aim to perfect and create a seamless online experience for consumers on your platform.

Besides, with sellers working on improving the products/services and platforms dedicated towards enhancing the overall experience, businesses can be sure to observe unhindered growth not only in terms of profits but with respect to market reputation as well.