CAIT demands 7-day ban on Amazon for not displaying mandatory info about products

The government has imposed a penalty on Amazon for not displaying mandatory information, including the country of origin, of products sold on its platform, according to an official order.

New Delhi: Traders' body CAIT on Friday demanded a 7-day ban on Amazon for not displaying the mandatory details - including the country of origin - of the products sold on the e-commerce major's platform.

Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) said it is "highly dejected" with the penalty of Rs 25,000 levied on Amazon India by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, and called for "exemplary punishment" for sending out a clear message to foreign e-commerce players "disobeying the law of the land".

The body said: "The paltry monetary penalty has no significance at all and it has demanded that a 7-day ban on Amazon and other big e-commerce companies who are continuously offending the law and policies, should be imposed on them. Let there be an exemplary punishment".

The government has imposed a penalty on Amazon for not displaying mandatory information, including the country of origin, of products sold on its platform, according to an official order.

Last month, the consumer affairs ministry had issued notices to e-commerce majors Flipkart and Amazon for not displaying such information.

The ministry has imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on Bengaluru-based Amazon Seller Services as well as each of its directors as per the provisions of the Legal Metrology Act, 2009 and the Legal Metrology (Package Commodities) Rules, 2011.

The penalty was imposed on Amazon as its reply to the notice was not found satisfactory, as per the order issued by the ministry dated November 19.

CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said that levying such a small amount on a foreign e-commerce giant for violating Indian law is nothing but a mockery of our judicial and administrative system.

"The punishment should be equal to the damage caused by them on our economy and it should have reflected a clear message to the foreign e-commerce players that anyone disobeying the law of the land," he added.

(PTI Report)