Nearly 20 lakh complaints against online retail and quick commerce platforms highlight rising grievances and regulatory efforts in India over the past five years, with non-delivery and wrong products cited as top issues.
Nearly 20 lakh consumer complaints have been filed against e-commerce and quick commerce platforms over the past 5 years on the National Consumer Helpline, according to a written reply the Union government gave to the Lok Sabha. The figures point to a sharp rise in grievances, with 5.1 lakh complaints recorded in 2025 alone, up from 4.4 lakh a year earlier and more than double the 2.2 lakh logged in 2021. The helpline, run by the Department of Consumer Affairs, is designed as a pre-litigation redress mechanism for consumers.
Flipkart drew the highest number of complaints in 2025 at 1.33 lakh, followed by Amazon at 91,248 and Meesho at 29,284. Other platforms that featured prominently included Myntra, Reliance Retail-owned Netmeds, Zepto, Blinkit, Naaptol, VLE Bazaar and Nykaa. The pattern shows complaints are not confined to one segment of online commerce, but the biggest volumes continue to cluster around the largest marketplace and quick commerce operators.
The nature of the grievances has also shifted. In 2021 and 2022, the most common complaint was non-refund of money already paid. By 2025, non-delivery had become the biggest problem, with 79,818 complaints, followed by delivery of the wrong product at 75,426. Other recurring issues included refusal to replace or refund goods as promised, damaged or defective deliveries and instances in which money was debited without the consumer’s consent. The government said the Central Consumer Protection Authority has levied penalties of more than Rs 1.12 crore on 47 e-commerce platforms, while the helpline has facilitated refunds worth Rs 91 crore overall, including more than Rs 61 crore tied to e-commerce complaints between 25 April 2025 and 30 June 2026.
The reply also underlined the regulatory framework that now covers online retail and quick commerce. Under the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020, platforms must appoint a grievance officer, acknowledge complaints within 48 hours and resolve them within a month. They are also meant to secure consumer consent through clear and affirmative action rather than pre-ticked boxes or automated methods. Separately, the CCPA’s 2023 dark-pattern guidelines identify 13 problematic design practices, including false urgency, subscription traps, drip pricing, confirm-shaming and disguised advertisements. Yet the ministry said only 31 platforms have so far sent voluntary self-declaration letters confirming compliance with those norms, even as regulators intensify scrutiny of the sector and food safety authorities act against lapses at some quick commerce facilities.
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