Same Pack, Less Information: A chocolate bar bought from an e-commerce app and the one from your neighbourhood grocery store look the same, taste the same and carry the same packaging. One thing is not the same: your freedom to choose.
At a physical store, you can flip the packet over, check the date of manufacture and the expiry date, and then decide whether to take it to the billing counter. Online, that option often disappears. Scroll through the images, read the ‘description’ and ‘specifications’ fields, and on many listings you will find no dates at all.
On the face of it, that is a denial of a basic consumer right — and the law is on the consumer’s side.
It is a RIGHT, Times Now Digital has been campaigning for: the shopper’s Right to see a product’s manufacturing and expiry dates before paying, online just as on any shop shelf. So is the government silent on the issue? Not really.
In a response to Times Now Digital query, FSSAI said in the last few weeks they have issued over two dozen notices to e-comm FBOs (Food Business Operators), despite that complete compliance is still nowhere in sight. Overall, 27 notices have been sent to the e-commerce platforms.
We asked the biggest names in the business – Blinkit, Zepto, Swiggy Instamart, BigBasket, Amazon Now and Flipkart Minutes – a simple question: why are manufacturing and expiry dates not on your listings? Every one of them stayed silent. Blinkit and Amazon asked for 48 hours. We gave them another 48.
Still not a word, as of June 29.
Two years of directives: For at least the past two years, authorities such as the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) and the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) have issued instructions for the mandatory display of crucial information, including expiry dates. On many platforms, those directions remain only partly met.
27 notices: FSSAI says it has issued around 27 notices to e-commerce Food Business Operators (FBOs) in recent weeks. Even so, full compliance is yet to follow. (GIVE MORE DETAILS and Attribute to notices we have in poss
The Act: The Legal Metrology Act, 2009, read with the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011, requires every packaged commodity to declare its date of manufacture, net quantity, retail price, and best-before or use-by date.
The 2017 amendment: An amendment to the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules followed in 2017, when e-commerce was just entering the Indian market with a handful of players. It addressed the display of the “best before or use by date, month and year” on digital platforms.
E-commerce, like most technology pitched as a problem-solver, was welcomed warmly by Indian consumers.
Tightening in 2020: As new players arrived and online shopping expanded, the government stayed watchful. In 2020, FSSAI required e-commerce FBOs to put mechanisms in place so that products listed on their platforms comply with the FSS (Labelling and Display) Regulations.
The Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020 require e-commerce entities to give consumers the essential information they need before a purchase. Rule 6(5) provides that sellers must ensure product listings carry the information necessary for an informed decision, including details required under applicable laws, though the Rules do not, in those words, name the “date of manufacture” or “expiry date”.
The Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020 require e-commerce entities to give consumers the essential information they need before a purchase. Rule 6(5) provides that sellers must ensure product listings carry the information necessary for an informed decision, including details required under applicable laws, though the Rules do not, in those words, name the “date of manufacture” or “expiry date”.
The call for new regulation:
Beyond these laws and amendments, the government has kept complaint channels open through portals and helplines. A complaint can be filed with the National Consumer Helpline (NCH), and consumers can approach the Consumer Commission under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019. But these remedies mirror those available for grievances at a physical store. There is nothing specific to e-commerce and nothing that singles out the missing date of manufacture or expiry.
Sonam Chandwani Managing Partner at KS Legal & Associates told Times Now Digital, “What this calls for is not new legislation. The existing framework is detailed and has been refined through successive amendments specifically to keep pace with the shift to digital retail. What is missing is consistent enforcement, and a recognition by platforms that these disclosures are binding legal obligations rather than optional design choices.”
“As online retail continues to expand its share of India’s everyday commerce, the gap between what the law requires and what the screen shows is not a technical oversight,” she said.
Not just food poisoning: Dr. Palaniappan Manickam is a US-based board-certified gastroenterologist said, “Many people think expiry dates are only about food poisoning. That is not true. Different dates tell us different things. An expiry date tells us when a product should no longer be consumed because it may no longer be safe.”
“A best-before date usually refers to quality. The food may still be safe after this date, but its taste, texture, aroma, or nutritional value may not be the same.”
‘Food’ for thought: The rules exist. So do the dates. What is missing is the will to place one in front of the consumer. Until the screen shows what the shelf has always shown, the easiest right to lose online is the simplest one — the right to look before you buy.