Most small business owners I talk to think e-commerce rules are for Amazon and Flipkart. Some of them are. But a few of the changes announced this month reach much further, down to a local shop running its own online store. The new rules come into force on January 1, 2027. That gives us a little over three months.
What happened.
On September 10, 2026, the Department of Consumer Affairs announced the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) (Amendment) Rules, 2026. They amend the E-Commerce Rules of 2020, which sit under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
The stated goal is simple. Protect consumers better, without piling unnecessary burden on businesses.
One big change is structural. Every e-commerce entity must now join the convergence process of the National Consumer Helpline. In plain terms, your complaint handling gets connected to the national grievance system.
Why the government is doing this.
The helpline received 17,71,622 grievances in 2025. Of those, 5,11,196 were about e-commerce. That is roughly 29 per cent.
I read that as a signal, not a verdict. More on that below.
What changes for every e-commerce entity.
The press release lists some duties for all e-commerce entities, not only marketplaces.
Complaint copies. When a customer complains, you must give them a copy of the complaint as your grievance officer recorded it.
Search results. You cannot manipulate search results in a way that misleads users or makes results less relevant to what they searched for.
Sponsored listings. Paid or promoted placements must be clearly and prominently labelled.
Price reductions. This is the one I expect most small stores to trip on. If you announce a discount, you must show both the reduced price and the prior price. The prior price is defined as the lowest price you offered in the 30 days before the announcement.
So the old trick of raising the MRP last week and “slashing” it this week stops working. The strike-through price now has to be honest.
Dark patterns. You must follow the Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 2023. You must also do a yearly self-audit and display a compliance certificate prominently.
Imported goods. Importer details and country of origin must be shown. The release does not say whether this one binds marketplaces alone or every seller. If you import, disclose it either way.
“A discount is only a discount if the old price was real.”
What changes for marketplaces.
Some duties are for marketplace entities, the platforms that host other sellers.
They must show key information that helps buyers decide. That includes best before or use before dates, return and refund terms, warranty, delivery and payment details.
They cannot use consumer information for certain purposes without express, affirmative consent.
They cannot charge bundled fees for services unrelated to the platform. There is an exception for loyalty or membership programmes.
If you only sell on a marketplace, most of this is the platform’s job. But the platform will pass some of it back to you as seller requirements. Expect new mandatory fields in your seller dashboard.
The gap in what we know.
I have read the press release. I have not yet read the full gazette text of the amendment.
The press release does not say which “specified purposes” the consent rule covers. It does not give the exact wording of the bundled fee exception. It does not describe the format of the dark pattern compliance certificate. It does not say which type of entity the imported goods disclosure binds. I am not going to guess at any of these. Before you change anything big, read the notified text, or ask your lawyer to.
I am not a lawyer. This post is my reading as someone who builds these stores.
Numbers I would not use.
“29 per cent of consumer complaints are about e-commerce, so online shopping is the most unsafe.” The figure is real. The conclusion is not supported by it. It counts complaints, not complaints per purchase. People who shop online are also more likely to find and use an online helpline. And the release does not split the number between large marketplaces and small sellers. It tells us e-commerce is a large share of the helpline’s workload. That is all.
Any “fines up to X” figure you see in forwards about these rules. The press release does not mention penalties. If a post quotes one, ask where it came from.
Who this may not apply to.
The 2020 Rules exclude activity done by a person in a personal capacity, outside any professional or commercial activity. Someone selling their own used phone once is not running an e-commerce business.
A business that only takes enquiries online and closes the sale offline is in a greyer area. A clinic website with a booking form is not the same as a store with a cart. Check with your lawyer if you sit in between.
Everyone taking orders and payments online for goods or services should assume the rules touch them.
What I would do first.
If I ran a small online store today, I would start with these, in this order.
- Audit every strike-through price. Can you prove the “before” price was the lowest price in the last 30 days? If not, fix the display or keep a price history.
- Label anything paid or promoted. “Featured” and “Sponsored” sections should say so clearly.
- Walk through your checkout like a customer. Look for countdown timers that reset, pre-ticked add-ons, fees that appear only at the last step, and cancel buttons that are hard to find. These are the kinds of things the dark pattern guidelines target.
- Check your grievance process. Is the grievance officer’s contact visible? Can you send the customer a copy of their recorded complaint?
- Fill the gaps on product pages. Return and refund terms, warranty, delivery, and country of origin for anything imported.
None of this is hard. Most of it is honest design that should have been there already.
We are reviewing the online stores we built against these changes before January. If you run a store and want a second pair of eyes on it, write to me at gokul@nexgu.com or reach us at nexgu.com/connect.
Sources.
- Press Information Bureau (PIB Delhi), on behalf of the Department of Consumer Affairs, Government of India. “Government amends E-Commerce Rules to strengthen consumer protection and promote transparency,” published September 10, 2026. Read the release. All amendment details, the January 1, 2027 date, and the National Consumer Helpline figures for 2025 in this post come from this release.
- The exclusion for personal-capacity activity is from the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020, as I understand them. Verify against the notified text.
This is government information, not our research. Our part is only the reading of it.
