E-commerce has emerged rapidly to become a significant aspect of our lives today. Consumers can make purchases of clothes, electronic items, food, cosmetics and a number of other commodities through their clicks on the internet, without having to visit a physical shop to buy those goods. Despite the convenience and competition offered by e-commerce sites, it does bring about a number of legal issues with regard to consumer rights. Unlike normal business practices where the buyer has an opportunity to inspect a particular item before buying, online shoppers are unable to physically look at the item. In addition, buyers are often ignorant of the seller. Issues like deceptive advertising, counterfeiting, additional charges, delays, defective items and abuse of consumers’ personal information are among the increasing legal concerns. This therefore brings up an important issue with respect to online purchasing: whose duty is it to protect the consumer?
One of the biggest problems of online shopping is protecting the rights of consumers from unfair and misleading practices in commerce. Internet sellers could very easily make the consumer make his decision through beautiful pictures, exaggerated descriptions, fake testimonials, or false promises about the product. In many cases, the actual product that the customer gets might differ a lot from what he was promised. It might also be difficult for the consumer to get his money back in case the product is defective. Another very important aspect is consumer protection of his personal information. While making purchases, consumers give their names, addresses, phone numbers, bank account details and much other personal information to the company. If such companies do not ensure proper protection of this information, consumers could fall victim to fraud and identity theft.
The obligation to protect consumers online lies with multiple parties. Firstly, there are legal and ethical obligations on the part of the seller to provide truthful information about his/her goods, maintain certain standards of quality, inform about the total price and handle complaints in a fair way. Secondly, the importance of online marketplaces in this regard should be acknowledged since they help consumers get in contact with sellers and sometimes even affect the purchase decision making. Thus, they need to take reasonable steps to avoid fraud, provide complaint systems and react adequately to consumers’ complaints. Thirdly, it is important that the government takes measures for the effective regulation of e-commerce. The problem is especially relevant for Sri Lanka as more and more companies and consumers become engaged in it. Finally, proper legislation could help foster trust in electronic commerce without harming technological development. Consumers should also play their part in it by conducting research prior to making purchases regarding the seller information, product reviews, description and return policy.
In summary, it is clear that there is a need for e-commerce websites to give their customers convenience without exposing them to the risks of losing the protection that they are entitled to in physical marketplaces. E-commerce is evolving rapidly and thus there is a need for consumer protection laws to keep up with developments in technology. Such laws need to provide consumers with proper information, safe transactions, fair contracts, redress mechanisms and dispute resolution methods. On the other hand, businesses need to appreciate that the consumers’ confidence is necessary for the success of online business in the long run. It is necessary for regulatory bodies to enforce laws while online platforms will have to collaborate to prevent fraud and protect consumers. Thus, the question of ‘who protects the consumer?’ cannot be answered in one way alone. Consumer protection is an issue that involves all the stakeholders – the law, regulatory authorities, businesses, online platforms and the consumers.
Written By: –
Suneth Dumidu
University of Ruhuna
Design By: –
Rtr. Pesandi Senawatta
(Senior Blog Team Member 2026-27)
