Checklist

India's E-Commerce Rules 2026: a checklist for Shopify stores

Last reviewed 11 October 2026. This is a plain-English summary for store owners, not legal advice. Where the rules are unclear, it says so.

Which rules, and from when

The Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) (Amendment) Rules, 2026 were notified by the Department of Consumer Affairs on 9 September 2026 as G.S.R. 789(E). They amend the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020 and come into force on 1 January 2027.

Separately, the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011 already require the declarations on a pack to be shown on its online listing (Rule 6(10)). A 2026 amendment adds a searchable and sortable country-of-origin filter for imported products, with a compliance date reported in 2027.

Does this apply to my own-brand store?

The duties below sit in Rule 4, which applies to every "e-commerce entity". The 2020 Rules describe an inventory e-commerce entity as one that owns its inventory and sells directly to consumers, and say this includes single-brand retailers. A brand selling its own products from its own Shopify store matches that description.

A seller who lists only on someone else's marketplace is treated differently: the marketplace is the e-commerce entity and the seller has its own, shorter list of duties under Rule 6.

1. Prior price next to every announced discount

Rule 4(13). Where an e-commerce entity or seller announces a price reduction, the prior price must be displayed alongside the reduced price. The prior price is the lowest price of the good or service in the thirty days prior to the announcement of the reduction.

What this means on a Shopify store

• A struck-through compare-at price next to a lower price is, on the ordinary reading, an announced reduction.
• You need to know the lowest price each variant was sold at during the 30 days before the offer began. Shopify does not keep that history, so it has to be recorded as it happens.
• If a product was cheaper at some point in those 30 days than the price you are now presenting as the "was" price, the prior price is that lower figure.

What is not yet clear

• How coupon codes, bundles, loyalty prices and bank offers count.
• How a product that has always been sold below its MRP should be treated, since there is no earlier period to look back to.
• Whether "thirty days prior" means the lowest price across the whole 30-day window (the common reading, and the one the government's own press note uses) or the price on the thirtieth day before. Using the lowest across the window is the cautious choice.

2. Yearly dark-pattern self-audit and certificate

Rule 4(15). Every e-commerce entity must comply with the Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 2023, conduct a self-audit every year to make sure its platform is free of dark patterns, and display a compliance certificate prominently.

The Guidelines name thirteen patterns: false urgency, basket sneaking, confirm shaming, forced action, subscription trap, interface interference, bait and switch, drip pricing, disguised advertisement, nagging, trick question, SaaS billing and rogue malwares.

No format, auditor or issuing body is prescribed. In practice the certificate is the store's own signed declaration. Keep a dated record of what you checked and what you changed, because you may be asked how you reached it.

Where Shopify stores most often need to look

• Countdown timers that restart, and "only 2 left" messages not tied to real stock.
• Upsell apps that add an item to the cart without a tap.
• Shipping, COD or handling fees that first appear at the last checkout step.
• Newsletter pop-ups whose close button is hard to hit on a phone, or whose decline text shames the shopper.
• Subscriptions that are easy to start and hard to cancel.

3. Seller identity and grievance officer

Rule 4(2) and 4(5). Display the legal name of the entity, its address, and contact details for customer care and for a grievance officer. The grievance officer must acknowledge a complaint within 48 hours and redress it within one month.

A contact page with a form is not enough on its own. Show the registered name (for example "Aranya Naturals Private Limited"), a postal address, an email and phone number, and the grievance officer's name and designation.

4. Importer and country of origin

Rule 4(6). If you offer imported goods, name the importer and state the full name of the country of origin.

5. Pack declarations on the product page (already in force)

Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, Rule 6(10). For pre-packaged goods, the online listing should carry the mandatory declarations that appear on the pack. Commonly these are:

• MRP, inclusive of all taxes
• Net quantity
• Name and address of the manufacturer, packer or importer
• Common or generic name of the product
• Country of origin
• Consumer care name, address, phone and email
• Where they apply: best before or use by date, unit sale price, dimensions

Which declarations apply depends on the product category, and some categories have their own rules on top (food under FSSAI, cosmetics, electronics). Check the list for what you sell.

6. National Consumer Helpline

Rule 4(7). E-commerce entities are to become convergence partners of the National Consumer Helpline. This is done with the helpline directly; no app can do it for you.

Printable checklist

• Price history is being recorded for every product, starting at least 30 days before my next offer.
• Every discounted price on the storefront has its prior price beside it.
• Product pages show MRP with "inclusive of all taxes".
• Product pages show net quantity, manufacturer or packer, country of origin and consumer care, where they apply.
• Imported products name the importer and the country of origin.
• A page on the store shows our legal name, address, GSTIN and customer care contact.
• The same page names the grievance officer, with designation and contact.
• Complaints are acknowledged within 48 hours and tracked to closure within a month.
• This year's dark-pattern self-audit is done, dated and signed, with notes kept.
• The self-audit certificate is displayed on the store.
• We have applied to the National Consumer Helpline convergence programme.

Sources

• Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) (Amendment) Rules, 2026, G.S.R. 789(E), Gazette of India, 9 September 2026.
• Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020, G.S.R. 462(E), 23 July 2020.
• Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 2023, Central Consumer Protection Authority.
• Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011, as amended.

Read the notifications themselves, or ask a qualified adviser, before making decisions. Summaries, including this one, can be wrong or out of date.

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