as introduced in lok sabhaas introduced in lok sabha bill no 252 of  2017 the e-commerce (regulation) bill, 2017 by shri shivaji adhalrao patil, mp a billfor protection of rights of consumers against marketing of products and services through e-commerce/telephone/digital methods and for matters connected therewith or incidental theretobe it enacted by parliament in the sixty-eighth year of the republic of india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the e-commerce (regulation) act, 2017(2) it extends to the whole of indiashort title, extent and commencement5(3) it shall come into force on such date, as the central government may, by notificationin the official gazette, appoint2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—definitions10(a) "e-commerce selling" means selling of products or services by digital meansincluding internet, websites, dialing a telephone number advertised for the purpose in television, newspapers, magazines, hoarding and posters;(b) "observation period" means a fixed time period given to a consumer to examine the products purchased or services availed by him through e-commerce selling without inviting any liabilities; and68 of 19865(c) words and expressions, used but not defined under this act, shall have the same meaning as assigned to them under the consumer protection act, 19863 (1) every consumer who purchases any product or opts for any service through e-commerce selling shall have an observation period of fifteen days from the date of receiving such product or service10right of consumer to return the product or service purchase through e-commerce(2) the consumer shall have the right to return the product or the service to the company offering the same within the observation period if he is not satisfied with the quality and performance of the product or service, without giving any reason for returning the product or refusing the service15(3) the company which has offered the products or services shall refund the full amount, if any, charged for the same within seven working days from the date of return of product or refusal of service by the consumer within the observation periodexplanation—for the purpose of this sub-section "full amount" includes the packaging cost, delivery cost and the cost of returning the product20(4) every consumer shall have the right to get a full refund of money including the delivery charges, the cost of return or the installation charges, if the products or services on purchase are found to be faulty4 (1) every company shall give full and clear information including manufacturing date, expiry or best before date, about the products and the services being offered through e-commerce selling mode25(2) any condition, agreement or contract whatsoever, shall not be enforceable by the company unless it gives the required information to the consumer, prior to purchase of the product or servicescompanies to give full and clear information to consumer regarding products and servicespenalty5 (1) whoever contravenes the provisions of this act and the rules made thereundershall be punishable with imprisonment for a term, which may extend upto one year or with fine, which may extend upto ten lakh rupees or with both30(2) where a person committing a contravention off any of the provisions of this act or of any rule, made thereunder is a company, every person who, at the time the contravention was committed, was in-charge of, and was responsible to, the company for the conduct of business of the company as well as the company, shall be guilty of the contravention and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly:35provided that nothing contained in this section shall render any such person liable topunishment, if he proves that the contravention took place without his knowledge or that he exercised all due diligence to prevent such contraventionexplanation—for the purpose of this section:—40(i) "company" means anybody corporate and include a firm or other association of individuals; and(ii) "director", in relation to a firm, means a partner in the firmpower to remove difficulties457 if any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this act, the centralgovernment may, by order published in the official gazette, make such provisions, not inconsistent with the provisions of this act, as appear to it to be necessary or expedient for removing the difficulty:provided that no such orders shall be made after the expiry of the period of three yearsfrom the date of commencement of this act8 the provisions of this act shall be in addition to, and not in derogation of the provisions in any other law, for the time being in force, relating to e-commerce sellingact not in derogation of other laws power to make rules9 (1) the central government may by notification in the official gazette make rules for carrying out the purposes of this act510(2) every rule made under this act by the central government shall be laid, as soon asmay be after it is made, before each house of parliament, while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid, both houses agree in making any modification in the rule or both the houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule statement of objects and reasonswith the passage of time and advancement in technology, the concept of buying goods and services has undergone a tremendous change india has an internet users base of about 450 million as of july 2017 according to a study done by the indian institute of e-commerce, by 2020 india is expected to generate $100 billion online retail revenue out of which $35 billion will be through fashion e-commerce online apparel sales are set to grow four times in coming years a new sector in e-commerce is online selling of complementary and alternative medicine or prescription medicine people are buying various goods without even having seen or felt them the technology has also shrinked the world as the goods manufactured, anywhere in the globe, are available to a person just by clicking on e-commerce website portals or by making a telephone call the manufacturer of various goods are just flashing out their advertisements in e-commerce websites or telephone numbers in television, newspapers, magazines, hoarding, posters, etc for the purpose of inviting customers to purchase their goods and services in view of the fact that the person who is buying goods or services through this e-commerce selling does not get any chance of a face to face contact with the person selling the goods and the opportunity to feel or examine it, hence there are chances that he may fall into a false trap many cases have been reported of this nature where the goods and services purchased by an individual do not match in quality and appearance with those displayed on television, magazines, hoarding, etc in such cases, if the customer wants to return those goods or services, the supplier would not oblige him and he has no legal backing to do somany countries have enacted laws on e-commerce in order to protect the rights of the customers the year 2007 is regarded as the birth year of the indian e-commerce industry, but as of now, there is no law on e-commerce selling in our country with a view to protect the rights of the customers opting for e-commerce selling in our country, there is an urgent need to have such a lawthe bill, therefore, seeks to provide for the rights of the customer to return the goods or services purchased through e-commerce within the observation period of fifteen days without inviting any liabilities and imposing duties on the companies to provide full, fair and complete information to the customer while selling goods and services through e- commerce sellinghence this billnew delhishivaji  adhalrao  patilnovember 27, 2017 memorandum regarding delegated legislationclause 9 of the bill empowers the central government to make rules for carrying out the purpose of the bill as the rules will relate to matters of details only, the delegation of legislative power is of a normal character———— a billfor protection of rights of consumers against marketing of products and services through e-commerce/telephone/digital methods and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto————(shri shivaji adhalrao patil, mp)gmgipmrnd—2720ls(s3)—20122017