We missed this earlier: After receiving comments that flagged a myriad of concerns with the E-commerce Principles and Guidelines for Self-Governance, the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) revised the guidelines and published them once again in May for stakeholder consideration. This draft includes a clearer definition of e-commerce entities to include not just platforms that allow the sale and purchase of goods from third-party sellers, but also those of the platform itself.
This update comes after the previous draft had raised confusion about the original definition, which was restricted to the sale and purchase of goods from third-party sellers. Stakeholder comments, as reviewed by MediaNama, had argued that this specific mention of third-party sellers reflected that the definition was limited to marketplace e-commerce entities.
This May 2025 draft of the guidelines is currently only available on the NASSCOM website, with the industry body seeking comments from its members about it in June this year. MediaNama was unable to independently confirm the veracity of this draft, but has filed an RTI seeking a copy of the same, as well as any other drafts that might have been formulated since then.
Other key changes BIS made in the second draft of the guidelines:
E-commerce platforms no longer need to publish KYC requirements:
January draft: E-commerce platforms had to prominently publish on their site a checklist of all KYC procedures that they have undertaken while onboarding sellers or a service provider.
Reason for change: Respondents to the first draft had argued that publishing KYC requirements could compromise platform security by revealing verification processes to potential bad actors. They suggested that the BIS could explore the possibility of requiring e-commerce platforms to publish a broad checklist while keeping the specifics for internal due diligence. In response, the BIS amended the draft to state that platforms only need to share an indicative checklist of their KYC process to sellers when onboarding them.
Goods and services are no longer interchangeable:
January draft: The guidelines mentioned that goods and services would be used interchangeably with services.
Reason for change: However, the May draft clearly mentions that “items or materials that are manufactured, handled, processed, or transported within the supply chain for usage or consumption by the buyer” would fall within the scope of goods. This is because stakeholders had argued that it is legally problematic for BIS to use goods and services interchangeably.
“Goods and Services are distinct categories, each governed by separate legal provisions. So, while the term ‘products’ can encompass both goods and services, goods themselves cannot include services,” they explained. They emphasised that the foreign direct investment (FDI) laws have separate provisions for goods and services, as does the Goods and Services…
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