The authorities are preparing amendments to the law "On Consumer Rights Protection" in order to finally formalize the rules for the return of goods purchased on marketplaces. The initiative focuses on eliminating the gray area where the rules are actually set by the platforms, and the cost of refunds is often "by default" shifted to sellers and logistics.
The key change is the separation of two different actions, which today look the same for the buyer: refusal upon receipt (after inspection at the PVZ or at the courier) and return upon receipt, when the goods are already "out of control" of the site and the seller. At the strategic session, the need to consolidate this difference in legislation and link different rules and lists of goods to it was directly discussed.
According to the proposed logic, at least two groups of categories appear:
- goods that cannot be discarded even upon receipt (food, medicines, and medical products are mentioned as examples);
- items that can only be returned upon delivery/receipt, but cannot be returned after confirmation of receipt — examples include electronics, perfumes, cosmetics.
Another important point is to give sellers the right to coordinate the return of goods of proper quality and to deduct the cost of return shipping from the consumer. For the market, this is a reversal towards a balance of interests.: Today, "no questions asked" refunds often turn into a separate loss item, especially in clothing/footwear and electronics, where the risks of refund after use, substitution or damage are high.
The most applied element for logistics is the proposed control of the return status through packaging, seals, identifiers and mandatory photo/video monitoring in the PVZ or upon acceptance by courier with the seller's access to materials on request. This directly reduces conflict: the dispute "what happened to the product" ceases to be verbal and becomes evidentiary. It was this accent that Maxim Reshetnikov used.:
"For all other products that do not fall into these categories, it is necessary to clarify the procedures for controlling returns. Including when the goods can be returned — the integrity of the packaging, identifiers, seals. And add a requirement for photo and video monitoring at the pick-up point or upon acceptance by courier, with the seller's mandatory access to these materials upon request."
What does this mean for foreign economic activity and supply chains (even when it comes to domestic retail). Return is "reverse logistics," and it is more expensive to import: the goods have already passed customs, labeling, distribution to warehouses, and the last mile. The more refunds and disputed incidents there are, the higher the unproductive costs — warehouse handling, re-sorting, write-offs, and re-delivery. Legislative fixation of categories and procedures, including video recording, in the future should reduce these costs and make the cost of return predictable for the seller, 3PL and fulfillment.
