The Supreme Court today (July 24) issued notice in a plea seeking directions to the Centre to formulate a law to ensure that e-commerce sites and business houses declare “Country of Origin” of goods so as to facilitate boycotting of Chinese goods.
The bench, of Chief Justice SA Bobde and Justices AS Bopanna & V Ramasubramanium, was hearing a petition filed by advocate Divya Jyoti Singh in the backdrop of the Indo-Chinese standoff at Galwan Valley on June 15.
The petitioner has submitted that there is a need of a law to compel e-commerce sites to declare the ‘country of origin’ of goods so as to prevent customers from purchasing Chinese goods.
The petitioner further submitted that “There is a wave flowing in the country for boycotting the Chinese products by non-disclosure of the ‘Country of Origin’ on the web-portals, these giant business houses/e-commerce portals are not only playing with patriotic feelings of the Indians, but are also proving fatal in the efforts of each and every citizen in boycotting the Chinese products and also are blocking the way in promoting the local manufacturers/brands as called for by our Prime Minister so that the country becomes self-reliant as is the need of the hour.”
The petitioner further submitted that there was a need to amend Section 2(9) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, which states that a consumer has 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, and also to include the “Country of Origin” of the product.
– India Legal Bureau
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