E-CONSUMERISM IN INDIA- A CRITICAL STUDY.

ABSTRACT
E-commerce is a relatively new area in the field of consumerism. The presence of very few laws
for the protection of e-consumers is a matter of concern especially due to the ever growing
number of e-commerce websites. The lacuna in the law has to be cured either by enacting new
legislation or amending the existing ones. The Information Technology Act does not define who
an e-consumer is. The Preamble of the Act read as An Act to providelegal recognition for
transactions carried out by means of electronicdata interchange and other means of electronic
communication, commonlyreferred to as "electronic commerce". . .. This does not protect the
interests of the consumers.
The paper will be divided into two parts. In the first part of the paper, we will try to give an
insight onwho an e-consumer is with the help of case laws as well as the laws that are at his
disposal for his protection. The main question that we will be trying to answer will be Is there a
need to amend the existing consumer protection law so as to match to the ever dynamic ecommerce field? Inorder to answer the question, we will first analyze the problems existing in
the present day. The paper will give an account of laws that are at the consumers disposal and
will point out the lacunas in it. To find out the possible solutions that can be incorporated so that
consumers interests are protected, we will compare our laws with the laws existing for the
protection of e consumers in the western world and the measures adopted by them for protecting
the consumers.In the second part of the paper, we will lay down the measures that can be taken
by the legislature to keep a check on the e- commerce industries. In India, we lack laws
governing the industries as a result of which exploitation takes place.The conclusion will have a
list of amendments that can be implemented so that the legislature is able to cope with the ever
dynamic field.

Name of the Authors: Anand.K and Rahul.M

University: School of Law, Christ University.
Year of study: 4th Year.
Email addresses: anand.k@law.christuniversity.in, rahul.m@law.christuniversity.in
Alternative email address: anand.kalyan@outlook.com
Contact numbers: 09739204304(Anand), 09538003963(Rahul)