Under Section 2(16) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, "e-commerce" is defined as: 

Section 2(16) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 defines "e-commerce" broadly as buying or selling of goods or services, including digital products, over a digital or electronic network. This deliberately broad definition was adopted to bring the full spectrum of online retail activity - from marketplace platforms and online auction sites to subscription-based digital services - within the Act's regulatory ambit, a significant advance over the 1986 Act, which contained no specific reference to e-commerce transactions at all. Complementing this, the Explanation to Section 2(7) expressly clarifies that the terms "buys any goods" and "hires or avails any services" include offline or online transactions through electronic means, teleshopping, direct selling, or multi-level marketing, ensuring that consumers transacting through any of these modern commercial channels are squarely protected as "consumers" under the Act.