Scams has always been around us in one or the other form, so the trouble isn’t new to us. With the rise of new technology and online payment methods, Fraud in e-commerce have become inevitable. It is not something you just read about in the newspaper, but it’s actually something you might face yourself.
Along with the growth of e-commerce in the country in last few years, the scams and frauds associated with this has also gone north, but many of them do not get reported due to unawareness among the consumers.
Everyone of us have heard about hackers, online payment fraud etc. However, many a time the customers complain about not getting a refund or replacement, late delivery and misleading promotion of products or services, which they have ordered online. The later is an uncommon type of e- commerce fraud which can be seen now a days. Let us understand this with an instance, Ankur Singh, a senior executive working in a MNC from Delhi, placed an order for dinning table from Pepperfry, a well known online furniture shop “PEPPERFRY” a brand known for setting up professional and ethical standard and have attained nationwide reputation has done something which cannot be acceptable by any standard. Mr. Ankur made full payment of the purchase and order was expected to be delivered on 4th September, 19, 15 days from the date of order placed. Meanwhile, he made several communications with the company for updates but failed to get any updates. To his disappointment he received an email on 3nd September, 19 from the said Company, saying “ Will share an update with you whether we are able to deliver it or not”.
I would like to draw the attention of readers to the fact that, it’s not just a case of delayed delivery of product but there is a big money theft going on under the pretext of late delivery of orders, such company, in many cases, hold consumers money for days and finally refund the money without delivering the product or deliver it after the deadline. If you look deeper into this, imagine how much money companies like Pepperfry must be holding for considerable time (15 days to may be months) on the pretext of payment against order. While doing online shopping we are made to pay full price (not advance payment) of the product or service before we actually receive it, unless we choose the option of COD. We can imagine how these big online shopping sites are making money using such cheap techniques and many consumers are being cheated.
I am not a certified CA but even a common man can understand that the whole GMV (Gross Merchandising Value) claimed by these companies who may have money extorted from consumers like Mr. Ankur and on the pretext of this GMV, they raise considerable money from investors. To further clarify GMV, it is traditionally been an important metric for online retail companies, which often see it as a measure of growth. Some investor also use GMV as a key factor while determining the growth of an e-commerce firm. For example Pepperfry has raised total of 198 Million funding till date and current GMV estimated to be 2,000-3,000 Cr (ref. The Economic Times, September 1st, 2019, Pg 20).
There are lot of e-commerce brands like Flipkart (now acquired by Walmart), Amazon, Myntra such online shopping site have become fastest growing retail market and it is estimated to reach over $4 trillion in sales in 2020.
The purpose of this article is to make the readers aware of the fraud carrying on by such big online shopping companies under the nose of common man like us. It is very important to publicise such cases so that other consumers become aware. There are various consumer right organizations across the country that work with citizens and government agencies. According to an order of Supreme Court dated August 2017, e-commerce consumers can file complaints at the consumer forum in their own city, for their convenience.