Abstract

This article delves into the progression and present-day status of consumer rights in India’s digital marketplace, exploring the legal provisions and judicial interpretations that underpin these rights. It underscores the transition from traditional consumer law to digital transactions that fall under the scope of the Consumer Protection Act 2019 as much as they do the Information Technology Act 2000. The article identifies difficulties such as digital illiteracy, regulatory evolution and emergent technologies like artificial intelligence. It recounts instances where the judiciary has intervened against digital fraud, misrepresentation, deficiencies in service delivery, and reminds us of the need for entrepreneurs to disseminate the salient aspects of the absorbing world of cyber commerce beyond knowledge corrals. The article urges the judiciary to continue playing a vital role in protecting the three pillars of consumer rights in the digital realm: to be informed, to choose and to be heard; and to legislate laws, not only to secure the sanctity of consumer rights amid rapidly evolving technologies, but also to countermand and control the anti-social use or misuse of such technology to commit criminal acts – against the vulnerable and the nation alike. The article encompasses landmark judgments and case studies based on consumer complaints, concluding that there is material for deliberation as to what consumer rights should look like in India’s rapidly evolving digital economy.

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