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By:

Bhaskar Nath Biswal

13 May 2026 at 3:00:30 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.)

One Child, Two Price Tags: Government Spending vs Private-School Fees

The real question is not what education costs, but what educational outcome every rupee delivers.

Bharath, a 34-year-old salaried professional, recently sat down to calculate the annual cost of his child’s education. On one side was a government school, where education is substantially supported by public expenditure. On the other was a private school, charging tuition fees along with transportation, books, uniforms, activities, and other expenses. Bharath had a simple question: How much does the government spend on educating one child, and how much does a private school collect from parents?


This question is not merely about education. It is also about public money, household finances and, ultimately, value for money.


India’s Comprehensive Modular Survey: Education, 2025, reported that government schools accounted for 55.9% of school enrolment. It also found that average annual household expenditure per student was ₹2,863 in government schools, compared with ₹25,002 in non-government schools.


However, these figures should not be interpreted as a direct comparison between the government’s cost of educating a child and a private school’s revenue. They represent different concepts and measure different things.


Government Spending

Government-school education is supported through taxpayers’ money. Government expenditure can include teachers’ salaries, school buildings, maintenance, electricity, digital infrastructure, textbooks, teacher training, scholarships and administrative expenses.


Consequently, the actual public cost per student may be considerably higher than the amount directly paid by parents. What a family pays is therefore only one part of the overall cost of education.


From a Chartered Accountant’s perspective, this distinction is important. In financial analysis, comparing two numbers is meaningful only when we understand what each number includes, what it excludes and what exactly the numbers represent.


Private School Earning

A private school generally depends on fees and other legitimate sources of revenue to operate.


For example, suppose a private school has 1,000 students and charges an average annual fee of Rs 40,000. Its gross annual fee revenue would be around Rs 4 crore. But Rs 4 crore is revenue—not profit.


The school may have significant expenses such as teachers’ salaries, administrative staff, rent or building costs, electricity, maintenance, security, technology, examinations and other operational expenses. These costs can significantly reduce the amount available after expenses.


Therefore, a higher fee does not automatically mean higher profitability. Revenue and profit are two very different financial measures.


Value for Money

The real question should not be: “Why does the government spend one amount while private schools charge another?” Instead, we should ask: “What educational outcome is generated for every rupee spent?”


If substantial public money is spent on government schools but parents continue to prefer private schools because they perceive better teaching, infrastructure, English-language exposure or extracurricular opportunities, policymakers need to understand and address that gap.


At the same time, parents paying substantial private-school fees deserve transparency regarding how those fees are utilised. They also deserve to understand what educational value they are receiving for the money they spend.


ROI Mindset

A CA generally looks at expenditure through the lens of cost, efficiency and return.


Education is different because its return is not merely financial. A well-educated child can contribute to the economy through higher productivity, employment, entrepreneurship and tax contributions. Therefore, government education spending should be evaluated through measurable outcomes such as learning levels, teacher quality, infrastructure, attendance and employability.


Private schools should similarly be judged on the educational value they provide for the fees charged.


For Bharath, this is not just an accounting calculation. It is a decision about his child’s future. If taxpayers finance public education while many parents still spend Rs 30,000, Rs 50,000 or even Rs 1 lakh-plus annually on private education, the gap deserves serious examination.


The solution is not necessarily to declare government or private schools better. The objective should be efficient spending, transparent fees and better educational outcomes.


Ultimately, taxpayers deserve value from public expenditure, while parents deserve value from private fees. Because behind every education statistic is a parent like Bharath asking one fundamental question: “For every rupee spent on my child’s education, what am I — and society — actually getting in return?”


(The writer is a Chartered Accountant based in Thane. Views personal.)

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