The government is pursuing fraudulent, paid assessments on social media

In response to a growing consumer outrage, India will tighten regulations to weed out bogus or paid evaluations for goods ranging from vehicles to smartphones on e-commerce platforms and social media.

According to Rohit Kumar Singh, the top official in India's consumer affairs department, who spoke to media in New Delhi on Wednesday, the government would soon release a set of regulations that specifically target those who are compensated to recommend products. Such reviewers will be accountable for any product-related problems, he said.

Google and YouTube, which are both owned by Alphabet Inc. and are rapidly approaching one billion subscribers, see India as a critical market. Some of the nation's astute early internet adopters have amassed sizable followings by publishing product reviews on the platform, although the majority of them fail to reveal whether they receive payment from businesses to do so.

A issue that has previously affected other, more developed internet markets is currently plaguing the nation. More and more Indians are using the internet to shop for and purchase everything from soap to smartphones thanks to the country's 600 million handsets and affordable mobile data plans.