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By:

Bhaskar Nath Biswal

13 May 2026 at 8:30:30 pm

E-Commerce’s Hidden Threat

The modern Indian marketplace no longer echoes exclusively with the chaotic bustle of traditional bazaars. Instead, it thrives within the silent, instantaneous clicks of smartphone screens. From monthly groceries to high-end electronics, digital retail has fundamentally altered how households across the country consume goods. This transition has undoubtedly unleashed unprecedented convenience, democratizing access to products for millions living outside metro cities. However, this...

E-Commerce’s Hidden Threat

The modern Indian marketplace no longer echoes exclusively with the chaotic bustle of traditional bazaars. Instead, it thrives within the silent, instantaneous clicks of smartphone screens. From monthly groceries to high-end electronics, digital retail has fundamentally altered how households across the country consume goods. This transition has undoubtedly unleashed unprecedented convenience, democratizing access to products for millions living outside metro cities. However, this hyper-connected landscape has also exposed a deeply troubling reality. As digital storefronts expand, so does the shadowy ecosystem of cybercriminals eager to exploit the trust and vulnerabilities of unsuspecting shoppers. The digital transaction, once celebrated as a triumph of modern engineering, is increasingly fraught with unseen hazards. Protecting consumers from e-shopping fraud has now become an urgent national imperative. Fraud Surge The sheer scale of India’s e-commerce revolution provides vital context for why online shopping has become such a high-stakes arena. Recent market estimates indicate that India’s e-commerce economy has surged well beyond $140 billion, driven by over 300 million active digital shoppers. Projections show this user base rapidly swelling toward 400 million, largely fuelled by deep internet penetration, affordable smart phones and seamless payment infrastructure like the Unified Payments Interface across Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. Yet, this remarkable surge in commercial volume has been mirrored by an equally dramatic escalation in cybercrime statistics. Official records from the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal reveal that citizens have filed over 3.8 million cyber fraud complaints, representing staggering financial losses exceeding Rs. 36,000 crore, with a significant portion stemming from fraudulent online retail schemes. Perhaps most alarming is the historical recovery rate, where less than one percent of stolen funds is successfully returned to victims once transactions cross cyber borders. Despite the pervasive presence of online threats, digital consumers frequently fall into predictable traps that expose them to severe risk. A primary misstep is the failure to maintain basic password hygiene, with millions of shoppers reusing weak or identical passwords across multiple e-commerce platforms and email accounts, enabling attackers to execute swift cascading breaches. Furthermore, shoppers frequently bypass critical verification steps in pursuit of speed, such as failing to verify whether a website domain uses secure, encrypted connections before typing in card credentials. Another widespread oversight is performing financial transactions over unsecured public Wi-Fi networks in cafes or transport hubs, which allows bad actors to intercept sensitive data packets in transit. Many consumers also neglect regular software updates on their smartphones, leaving unpatched security vulnerabilities wide open to malware. Above all, emotional urgency remains the greatest weakness. Impulsive buyers frequently ignore glaring red flags, such as suspicious payment requests or unverified seller profiles. Decoding Scams Recognizing that awareness is the frontline of defence, key industry players and digital safety advocates have begun taking structured action. A prominent example is the consumer handbook, ‘Your Guide to Safe Online Shopping’, developed by Safer Internet India and commissioned by Amazon. The initiative aims to demystify complex cyber security concepts and provide consumers with actionable, real-world tools to navigate the digital marketplace safely. The handbook shines a bright light on the most prevalent fraudulent tactics currently plaguing buyers. To combat these threats, the safety guide emphasizes a multi-layered approach to consumer protection. It urges shoppers to verify web addresses meticulously, refrain from sharing one-time passwords and avoid conducting transactions off authorized brand platforms. Equally important, the guide bridges the gap between technical vigilance and legal empowerment by outlining explicit consumer rights under Indian laws and detailing formal grievance redressal mechanisms. A sustainable defence against online shopping fraud requires an integrated, multi-stakeholder strategy that aligns consumer awareness, corporate accountability and robust law enforcement. E-commerce platforms must continue investing aggressively in advanced artificial intelligence tools to detect cloned websites, eliminate fake merchant accounts and intercept suspicious payment flows before they reach consumers. Concurrently, regulatory authorities and law enforcement agencies must strengthen real-time intervention frameworks, expanding initiatives like the 1930 cyber crime helpline and emergency account-freezing protocols to minimize financial damage when breaches happen. On the demand side, continuous public awareness campaigns, modelled after comprehensive handbooks, must reach deep into semi-urban and rural regions where first-time internet users are most susceptible to manipulation. Ultimately, building a safe digital shopping environment is about preserving trust. Only when digital literacy keeps pace with technological innovation can India truly reap the economic rewards of its e-commerce revolution without sacrificing the security of its citizens. (The writer is a former college Principal and Founder of Supporting Shoulders, an Odisha-based non-profit Trust. Views personal.)

Faltering Trajectory

India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle has long been treated as a model of quiet reliability. However, that reputation is now under strain after the PSLV-C62, carrying 16 satellites, experienced a deviation during its third stage of flight shortly after lifting off from Sriharikota. ISRO confirmed that the rocket did not proceed along its expected trajectory, though it has stopped short of declaring the mission a failure.


In most launch vehicles, the third stage is where a mission is effectively decided. A problem at this point rarely allows a satellite to reach its intended orbit. That was the case last year when the only PSLV flight of the year failed at precisely this phase. The repetition of the same problem a year later is therefore difficult to dismiss as coincidence. PSLV-C62 was meant to mark the vehicle’s return to service after that setback. Instead, it has reopened questions that ISRO never fully answered.


For decades the PSLV has been the backbone of India’s space programme. It has lofted lunar probes, interplanetary missions and hundreds of commercial satellites, giving India a reputation for affordable and dependable access to orbit. With only four failures in its first 63 launches, the vehicle came to symbolise ISRO’s understated competence. The fifth failure, if confirmed, would not in itself be catastrophic. But two consecutive breakdowns in the same stage of flight suggest something more troubling than statistical bad luck.


After the 2025 failure, ISRO followed standard procedure by appointing a failure-analysis committee. What it did not do was publish the committee’s findings. The engineering community, satellite customers and even parts of India’s own space ecosystem were left in the dark about what went wrong and how it was fixed. When a launch vehicle flies again without such clarity, it asks its users to trust that the problem has been solved. PSLV-C62 now casts doubt on that assumption.


The implications stretch far beyond ISRO’s own laboratories. This flight carried satellites from Brazil, Nepal and Britain, all of whom entrusted Indian hardware with their orbital ambitions. It also carried seven satellites belonging to Dhruva Space, a Hyderabad-based start-up that represents the new private face of India’s space sector.


The Indian government has made commercial space a strategic priority. It has opened satellite manufacturing, data services and even rocket production to private players, hoping to replicate in orbit the start-up energy that transformed its software industry. The PSLV sits at the centre of this plan. It is the rocket that most Indian firms expect to use, and the one foreign customers already recognise.


Repeated third-stage anomalies undermine that confidence. ISRO has earned enormous goodwill through decades of frugal innovation. It remains a technically formidable organisation. But as India seeks to become a commercial space power, its national agency must behave like one.


If India wants the world to keep betting on the PSLV, ISRO will need to offer something more than reassurance. It will need to offer answers.

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