India’s digital economy, propelled by the rapid growth of e-commerce, has reconfigured traditional notions of consumer protection. While online marketplaces expand access, efficiency, and inclusivity, they simultaneously engender new layers of vulnerability ranging from algorithmic manipulation and counterfeit products to opaque refund policies and jurisdictional hurdles in cross-border transactions. The Consumer Protection Act, 2019 and the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020 represent an ambitious legislative recalibration, embedding accountability, transparency, and deterrence into the digital marketplace. Yet, enforcement bottlenecks, regulatory ambiguities, and weak institutional capacity often reduce statutory protections to aspirational ideals rather than substantive safeguards. This article critically traces the historical trajectory of consumer jurisprudence in India, from the ethical trade norms of the Arthashastra and medieval guilds to the transformative framework of the 1986 and 2019 Acts. It interrogates contemporary challenges in e-commerce information asymmetry, data exploitation, dark patterns, and platform accountability through doctrinal analysis, case law trends, and statistical evidence of rising consumer grievances. By situating India’s regulatory approach against comparative global practices, it argues that consumer law in the digital age must move beyond reactive remedies to proactive accountability. The study concludes that while the 2019 Act marks a paradigm shift, its success hinges on enforcement innovation, institutional strengthening, and digital literacy. A reform roadmap is proposed that integrates platform liability, algorithmic transparency, cross-border enforcement mechanisms, and constitutional values of fairness and dignity. Ultimately, the article contends that safeguarding consumer rights in the digital economy is not merely a statutory imperative but a constitutional necessity for ensuring sustainable and equitable growth.
