By Nikhil Cariappa This report is the second in our series covering the discussion on e-commerce and consumer rights. Read the first here. "A lot of our law has evolved from the common law jurisprudence, which refers to principles of law evolved by courts in the UK, over a period of time. The Donoghue vs. Stevenson case was a turning point in consumer law, said Alok Prasanna Kumar, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy. What follows is a paraphrased transcript of the discussion, edited for brevity and clarity. A medium in transition On the question of how you define relationships between buyer and seller and the platform. Who bears the responsibility towards the consumer? The key question is: Who is your neighbour now? This has changed, given the changing business models. It's not just about manufacturer to distributor to retailer to the consumer. The range of middlemen has disappeared. You now have platforms which perform all these functions and has much more power than the parties on either end. Very few companies can withstand being blackballed by a major e-commerce company, it has to do with the fact that platforms give you a network advantage. A driver or rider who gets blacklisted by both Ola and Uber, that's the end of the story. (Alok Prasanna Kumar, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy) On the other hand, if a driver wants to complain, the company can say that their only obligation was to keep you [the driver] on the platform. Who the consumer is,…
