E-COMMERCE has been on the rise in Pakistan lately. This bodes well for the economy. There are lots of online shopping portals. My recent experience with one such online shopping platform highlighted the need for a regulatory body to ensure consumer rights.
One well-known online shopping portal, in the wake of the recent rain, sent out a message that all deliveries would be late by three to four days. This was understandable for some rural areas. However, for a delivery from Karachi to Islamabad`s urban area, it becomes just an excuse.
Similarly, there have been instances where a shopping portal accepts an order, payment is transferred successfully, and after the expected delivery date, the customer is informed that they could not manage the delivery and would be processing a refund. This essentially means the company had collected customer`s cash in their accounts for a few weeks for free.
The ministry of information technologyand the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority should look into establishing this for protecting consumer rights and create a complaint management system similar to the one currently used in telecommunication services.
