Government policy, regulations, and legal developments affecting global commerce and retail.
A Reuters analysis found more than 700 of roughly 770 internet security camera listings on Amazon India and Flipkart were for models absent from the Bureau of Indian Standards approved register. Both platforms have begun removing products six months after India’s April 1 certification mandate took full effect.
The Senate cleared the Common Cents Act by unanimous consent on September 28, giving US merchants a single federal framework for rounding cash transactions to the nearest nickel. The bill also writes the end of penny production into statute and now awaits President Trump’s signature.
Britain’s Competition Appeal Tribunal certified an opt-out class action against Apple and Amazon covering Apple and Beats products bought on Amazon’s UK marketplace, a claim the claimant values at £289m to £306m including interest. It refused to certify the larger portion covering purchases from Apple directly and from other retailers.
The FTC’s public comment record on personalized pricing closed on September 25, 2026, with advertising and technology trade groups calling the proposed disclosure duty unworkably vague and a litigation group framing it as compelled speech. Walmart used the same day to pledge it will never price the person instead of the product.
New York City’s click-to-cancel rule takes effect on October 1, 2026, the first municipal subscription-cancellation rule in the United States. It lands while the federal equivalent remains vacated, with DCWP penalties of $525 to $3,500 per violation.
Three regulatory signals from September 2026 point to US retailers keeping a record share of shareholder proposals off their 2027 ballots, plausibly above 25 percent of submissions. The call should be scoreable by September 30, 2027.
India will charge merchants a 0.4% discount rate on UPI payments above INR 2,000 from October 15, 2026, ending nearly seven years of free acceptance on the world’s largest instant payment rail. The government has ruled out any delay as trade bodies demand a rollback and the dispute reaches the Supreme Court.
Korea Fair Trade Commission chair Ju Biung-ghi said on September 21 the agency will rewrite its investigation rules after a court stayed its Coupang inspection through September 23, and rejected US House pressure over the case. The dispute ties a supplier-cost probe to a Section 301 petition, a House report and a USD 410 million privacy fine.
Google has pulled free product listings and organic product carousels from search results across the European Economic Area to comply with the Digital Markets Act, days before its September 21 compliance deadline. Retailers now reach shoppers through paid Shopping ads, comparison services or a new aggregator unit.
Seattle City Council votes September 22 on CB 121267, a first-in-the-nation city ban on grocery surveillance pricing that reaches Kroger, Albertsons, Amazon, Walmart and Instacart. The ordinance carries fines of up to $3,000 per violation, a private right of action capped at $1 million, and a September 1, 2027 start date.