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Guidelines to help keep online sellers in check
Online commerce business operators will be issued guidelines in the coming weeks, the consumer rights watchdog says.
The Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) director Asela Bandara told the Sunday Times: “Sri Lanka lacks regulations to control buying and selling in a digital marketplace.’’
He said online purchases had not been popular with the masses until the coronavirus-related shutdown.
According to him, currently many consumers are facing problems with online purchases.
“There are many who complain about the exorbitant prices charged by them for goods and delivery because there is no fixed charge for delivery, and other complaints include delays in receiving goods and sometimes the quality of the product,” he explained.
When asked if online prices could be controlled, Mr. Bandara said, that if the regulator gets complaints of an unreasonable increases in prices for goods, controls could be imposed.
Meanwhile, raids on traders are continuing on a small scale.
“We have deployed two teams, each team comprising three officers for raids in the Western Province, and this number is small as opposed to the complaints and raids that needs to be done on a daily basis,” said CAA assistant director A.A. Jasoor, who oversees the Western Province.
From March 18 to April 16, about 275 complaints have been received from the Western Province.
According to Mr. Jasoor, online sales have posed the biggest problems in the Colombo district.
Most complaints include high prices, delivery charges, and not receiving the ordered goods on time.
There have been cases where the sellers have received the money but not delivered the goods, he said.
According to the head of the Kalutara District CAA, Janaka Prasad, an average of 50 to 60 complaints a day are recorded from people.
The most prominent issue is that, most retailers sell goods from the back of their premises and at high prices.
He said prosecuting retailers in such circumstances is challenging because proving that they had operated during the curfew is difficult.
Meanwhile, in the Ratnapura district, six wholesalers were raided in Ratnapura and Eheliyagoda on Wednesday, and six retailers were raided in Ratnapura, Kahawatta, and Pelmadulla on Thursday.
The CAA officer in charge in the Ratnapura district, Udaya Namalgama, said 25 to 30 complaints are received on a daily basis.
There were 250 complaints in Kandy as of April 17 and 200 complaints had been checked.
The CAA assistant director of the Central Province, said that the recent raids were mostly related to rice, face masks, and fertiliser being sold at high prices.