Introduction
The Department of Consumer Affairs, Government of India, has amended the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020 through the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) (Amendment) Rules, 2026, with the objective of strengthening consumer protection while facilitating a transparent and balanced regulatory framework for the e-commerce sector.1
The Amendment Rules will come into force with effect from January 1, 2027, giving e-commerce entities and marketplace platforms a compliance runway of roughly four months from the date of the notification.
The Amendment Rules substantially recast the disclosure, ranking, pricing, grievance-redressal and data-use obligations placed on e-commerce entities and marketplace e-commerce entities, and for the first time expressly weave the Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 2023 into a binding rule-based compliance obligation. Several of the changes also have a direct bearing on obligations that will separately arise for