Centre sets standard for ecommerce reviews The Centre is planning to bring out a standard for publishing product reviews on e-commerce platforms titled “Indian Standard (IS) 19000:2022 Online Consumer Reviews — Principles and Requirements for their Collection, Moderation and Publication” The standard will initially be voluntary for compliance by all e-commerce platforms. BIS will also develop a Conformity Assessment Scheme for the standard to assess compliance. The framework for the standard was prepared by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). The framework was meant to safeguard and protect consumer interest from fake and deceptive reviews on e-commerce platforms. Once made mandatory, if required, the violation of the standards by any entity may be considered as an unfair trade practice or violation of consumer rights and a consumer may submit such grievances to the National Consumer Helpline, Consumer Commissions or the CCPA. Taking cognizance of the impact of fake and deceptive reviews and protection of consumer interest in e-commerce, the Department of Consumer Affairs constituted a committee to develop a framework on checking fake and deceptive reviews in e-commerce on 10th June, 2022. The committee included various stakeholders including e-commerce companies, industry associations, consumer organizations and law chairs. Union Health Ministry launches India’s first suicide prevention policy The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare announced a National Suicide Prevention Strategy, the first of its kind in the country, with time bound action plans and multi sectoral collaborations to achieve reduction in suicide mortality by 10% by 2030. The recent National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report stated that 1.64 lakh people died by suicide in 2021. This is 10 per cent higher than the COVID deaths in India 2020, and 6.8 times the maternal death (23800) in 2020. The UN’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3.4 aims to reduce premature mortality from non-communicable…
