Mobile number is not required for shopping, now shopper’s discretion will be controlled!

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Mobile Number: Whenever you buy goods from a shop, the shopkeeper asks for your mobile number before issuing the bill. After entering your mobile number, the shopkeeper gives you the bill. But now soon you will not need to give mobile number to get bill. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs is going to issue an advisory to end this practice. In fact, people are constantly filing complaints about the practice of asking for a mobile number every time before issuing a bill. According to Union Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh, after receiving several complaints, the Center is now issuing an advisory. He said any seller who insists on a customer’s mobile number falls under “unfair trade practice”.

Consumers have complained that many retailers do not serve them if they refuse to provide their mobile number. Here the sellers say that they cannot generate the bill until the mobile number is given. This is an unfair and prohibited trade practice under the Consumer Protection Act. There is no rationale behind collecting this information. Customers should not take numbers unless they have given their consent.

Customers in India are not required to provide their mobile number to make purchases. But mostly they have to give mobile number. According to officials, this is also a privacy concern and whether the customer has the right to share his mobile number or not. He said there are complaints from vendors that they inform customers that they cannot generate a bill without a contact number as it is built into the system.

According to the officials, they will issue clear guidelines to the sellers that if a customer does not want to provide his mobile number for the bill after purchasing the goods, the seller should not insist on it. An advisory will be sent to the retail industry and organizations like CII, FICCI and ASSOCHAM to resolve the issue in the interest of consumers.

In another move, the ministry has sent its views on introducing universal charging port USB Type-C for smartphones, laptops and tablets to the Ministry of Electronics and IT, suggesting that these chargers could be rolled out from June 2025 onwards. The ministry is recommending the use of common chargers for only two types of electronic charging devices to reduce e-waste.