Centre Cracks Down On Amazon, Flipkart For Selling “Unsafe, Non-Certified” Items

To curb the distribution of non-compliant merchandise by means of e-commerce platforms, the Bureau of Indian Requirements (BIS) has carried out search and seizure operations at a number of warehouse places of main e-commerce platforms, together with Amazon and Flipkart, in cities like Lucknow, Gurugram and Delhi, the federal government mentioned in an announcement right this moment.

In a latest search performed on March 7 at an Amazon warehouse in Lucknow, the BIS seized 215 toys and 24 hand blenders, all missing necessary BIS certification. In February, an analogous operation at an Amazon warehouse in Gurugram led to the seizure of 58 aluminium foils, 34 metallic water bottles, 25 toys, 20 hand blenders, 7 PVC cables, 2 meals mixers and 1 speaker – all discovered to be non-certified.

Equally, in a search at a Flipkart warehouse in Gurugram operated by Instakart Companies Pvt Ltd, the BIS seized 534 stainless-steel bottles (vacuum insulated), 134 toys and 41 audio system that weren’t licensed.

The BIS’s investigations into a number of violations on each Amazon and Flipkart traced non-certified merchandise again to Techvision Worldwide Pvt Ltd.

Appearing on this lead, BIS performed raids at two totally different amenities of Techvision Worldwide in Delhi, uncovering roughly 7,000 electrical water heaters, 4,000 electrical meals mixers, 95 electrical room heaters, and 40 gasoline stoves, with out BIS certification.

Non-certified merchandise seized embody manufacturers like Digismart, Activa, Inalsa, Cello Swift, and Butterfly, amongst others.

The BIS took authorized motion beneath the BIS Act, 2016 to carry the accountable entities accountable. BIS has already filed two instances in opposition to Techvision Worldwide Pvt Ltd. Extra instances are within the means of being filed for different seizure operations, the federal government mentioned.

BIS is actively conducting market surveillance to make sure that shopper merchandise accessible out there, together with on e-commerce platforms, adjust to relevant security and high quality requirements. As a part of surveillance, BIS buys shopper merchandise and topics them to rigorous testing to confirm compliance with the prescribed requirements.

The merchandise beneath market surveillance embody generally used shopper items resembling home strain cookers, handheld blenders, meals mixers, electrical irons, room heaters, PVC cables, gasoline stoves, toys, two-wheeler helmets, switches, sockets, and aluminium foils for meals packaging. Contemplating the potential hazards posed by substandard high quality merchandise, the central authorities has made BIS certification necessary for these merchandise.

Throughout its surveillance, BIS recognized that a number of non-certified merchandise are being bought on e-commerce platforms resembling Amazon, Flipkart, Meesho, Myntra, and BigBasket, though BIS certification has been made necessary for these merchandise.

Non-certified merchandise embody these that don’t bear ISI mark or bear an ISI mark with an invalid licence numbers). These non-certified merchandise pose important security dangers to customers as they haven’t undergone unbiased third-party testing to make sure they meet minimal security and efficiency requirements.

These large-scale seizures spotlight the widespread difficulty of unsafe non-certified merchandise being bought on-line, underscoring the pressing want for e-commerce platforms to train better due diligence in making certain that solely BIS-certified merchandise are listed on the market, wherever mandated by the central authorities, it mentioned within the assertion.