Consumer Commission Penalises Flipkart For Defective Product

SUMMARY

The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (Mumbai suburban) held ecommerce major Flipkart guilty of unfair trade practice

The Commission ordered the ecommerce company and the seller of the product on the platform to refund the product’s cost with interest and pay INR 10,000 as compensation

The Commission said that Flipkart’s ‘no return policy’ for the product came under unfair trade practice

The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (Mumbai suburban) has held ecommerce major Flipkart guilty of unfair trade practice for citing its ‘no return policy’ and refusing to replace an inferior-quality food product.

According to a PTI report, the Commission ordered the ecommerce company and the seller of the product on the platform to refund the product’s cost with interest and pay INR 10,000 as compensation to the complainant.

The consumer purchased 13 containers of a health drink mix for INR 4,641 from Flipkart in October 2023. According to the report, the product was of abnormal colour and texture, lacked a QR code on the label, and was likely fake.

The Commission said that Flipkart’s ‘no return policy’ for the product came under unfair trade practice.

However, this is not the first time that such an action has been taken against Flipkart. In March this year, a consumer disputes redressal commission in Mumbai ordered the company to pay INR 10,000 to a customer for cancelling his iPhone order.

Flipkart and its rival Amazon were recently found guilty of violating competition laws by the Competition Commission of India. Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is also investigating the two ecommerce players for violation of foreign direct investment laws.

On the financial front, Flipkart continues to be a loss-making entity. Flipkart’s marketplace arm, Flipkart Internet, reported a 41% year-on-year (YoY) decline in its net loss to INR 2,358 Cr in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24). Operating revenue zoomed 21% to INR 17,907.3 Cr.

Meanwhile, its logistics arm Ekart’s net loss widened over 5X to INR 1,718.4 Cr in FY24.

Amid all these, Flipkart also launched its quick commerce service earlier this year due to the rising popularity of the segment.

Last week, Flipkart’s parent Walmart reported 8% YoY growth in its international sales in Q3 FY25 on the back of the ecommerce company’s solid sales growth during its flagship sale, The Big Billion Days.