SC issues notice to compel e-commerce companies to display country of origin of products, follows the Centre’s footsteps

The Supreme Court of India issued a notice today seeking directions from the Government of India to formulate a law that would make it necessary for e-commerce websites and business houses to declare the country of origin of imported goods sold on the website. This notice comes after the Central Government has directed the Delhi HC affirming this obligation of the e-commerce site earlier this month. This move is necessitated after the recent tension along the Indo-China border in Ladakh and the subsequent boycott of the Chinese goods.

The SC bench of Chief Justice SA Bobde with Justices AS Bopanna, and V Ramasubramanian sought Centre's response on this plea filed by Advocate Divya Jyoti Singh urging that the country of origin for products should be easily visible to customers so that an informed decision about the purchase can be made. The petition by Adv. Singh further argues that such non-disclosure of the country of manufacturing keeps the customers in the dark. It states that the e-commerce/business house portal act as a hurdle in bringing to vision self-reliant India and also play with the patriotic feelings of the Indians.

The petitioner has additionally prayed for an amendment of Section 2 (9) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 to give a wider interpretation to the section to include the right of the consumer to know the ‘Country of Origin’ in the e-commerce portals. Section 2(9) of the Act states that a consumer's rights include "the right to be informed about the quality, quantity, potency, purity, standard and price of goods, products or services, as the case may be, so as to protect the consumer against unfair trade practices."

Centre’s orders: Obligation to display ‘Country of Origin’

On the similar issue last week, the Central Government had stated before the Delhi High Court that under Rule 6(10) of the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011, all E-Commerce entities are under an obligation to ensure that the country of origin of imported products is displayed on their platforms.

In that petition, the e-commerce platform Snapdeal contended before the Delhi HC that the Legal Metrology Act, 2009 (LM Act) neither considers the regulation of e-commerce entities nor the regulation of any listings on e-commerce websites. The platform further argues that the liability to make disclosures is ‘highly questionable’.

Moreover, the e-commerce giant stated that it worked merely as an ‘intermediary’ in the ‘marketplace’ based e-commerce model. The website only serves as an IT (Information Technology) platform to connect third-party sellers with their potential customers. It does not sell products from its own inventory. The Company does have the ‘Country of Origin’ field which can be filled up by the seller. However, this is not yet mandatory.