Consumer Watchdog CCPA Imposes Penalty On Flipkart

Cracking the whip on Flipkart, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) on Wednesday (August 17) imposed a fine of INR 1 Lakh on the ecommerce portal for selling sub-standard pressure cookers. 

The chief commissioner of CCPA, Nidhi Khare, in an order, directed Flipkart to recall all 598 sub-standard pressure cookers sold on its platform and notify all aggrieved customers. 

The consumer watchdog also directed the ecommerce major to reimburse the affected consumers and file a compliance report within 45 days. 

The fine was imposed for violation of rights of customers and for flouting the Domestic Pressure Cooker (Quality Control) Order of 2021.

Flipkart told the CCPA that it earned INR 1,84,263 through sale of such pressure cookers. 

Citing commercial gains from the sale of sub-standard pressure cookers, the CCPA said that Flipkart cannot alienate itself from the ‘role and responsibility’ arising out of the sale to consumers.

The consumer watchdog also observed that provisions in the ‘Flipkart Terms of Use’ mandate the use of the words ‘Powered by Flipkart’ on every invoice of the product, indicating the role played by Flipkart in the sale of such pressure cookers.

Ecommerce Platforms Under CCPA Lens

This comes barely a few weeks after CCPA also fined ecommerce major Amazon INR 1 Lakh for allowing sale of sub-standard pressure cookers on its platform.

The crackdown is part of a country-wide campaign launched by the CCPA to prevent the sale of counterfeit goods that violate quality control norms. 

As part of this, the CCPA has also written to chief secretaries of all states and union territories as well as district collectors across the country to investigate unfair trade practices, violation of consumer rights and submit reports on the matter. 

Under the campaign, the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has so far seized 1,435 pressure cookers and 1,088 helmets for not conforming to set standards. Besides, short code ‘1915’ has also been allocated for the National Consumer Helpline (NCH) to allow customers to file their grievances.

In a statement, the CCPA said that ecommerce platforms accounted for the highest proportion of grievances registered on the helpline in July . 

“In the month of July 2022, 38% of all grievances on NCH pertained to e-commerce. Major categories of consumer grievances in ecommerce include delivery of defective product, failure to refund of paid amount, delay in delivery of product etc,” the CCPA said.

Earlier this year, the Centre informed the Parliament that 15 notices have been issued against ecommerce entities and sellers for selling non-standard pressure cookers online. So far, 305 cases have been registered against ecommerce companies for flouting various norms and a penalty of INR 49.95 Lakh has been imposed on 90 companies.