The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) on Saturday said it has carried out search and seizure operations at multiple warehouse locations of leading e-commerce platforms, including Amazon and Flipkart, in cities like Lucknow, Gurugram and Delhi. This was done to curb the distribution of non-compliant products through e-commerce platforms.
“During its surveillance activities, BIS has identified that several non-certified products are being sold on e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, Flipkart, Meesho, Myntra, BigBasket even though BIS certification has been made mandatory for these products,” it said in a statement.
A raid conducted on March 7 at an Amazon warehouse in Lucknow resulted in seizure of 215 toys and 24 hand blenders that lacked BIS certification. Earlier, in February, a similar operation at an Amazon warehouse in Gurugram resulted in the seizure of non-certified 58 aluminium foils, 34 metallic water bottles, 25 toys, 20 hand blenders, 7 PVC cables, 2 food mixers and 1 speaker, it added.
A raid conducted on a Flipkart warehouse in Gurugram, operated by Instakart Services Pvt Ltd, led to seizure of 534 stainless steel bottles (vacuum insulated), 134 toys and 41 speakers, that were not certified.
“BIS’s investigations into multiple violations on both Amazon and Flipkart traced non-certified products back to Techvision International Pvt Ltd. Acting on this lead, BIS conducted raids at two different facilities of Techvision International in Delhi, uncovering approximately 7,000 electric water heaters, 4,000 electric food mixers, 95 electric room heaters, and 40 gas stoves, without BIS certification,” BIS noted in its statement
Non-certified products seized include brands like Digismart, Activa, Inalsa, Cello Swift, Butterfly among others.
BIS has already filed two court cases against Techvision International Pvt Ltd for violations provisions of BIS Act . Additional cases are in the process of being filed for other seizure operations, it added.
“These large-scale seizures highlight the widespread issue of unsafe non-certified products being sold online, underscoring the urgent need for e-commerce platforms to exercise greater due diligence in ensuring that only BIS-certified products are listed for sale, wherever mandated by Central Government,” it added.
In this regard, BIS has issued notices to all these e-commerce platforms, directing them to ensure that products requiring BIS certification are duly certified before being made available to consumers.
