The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) on August 4 said it has imposed a penalty of Rs 1 lakh on e-commerce major Amazon for selling pressure cookers that did not meet quality norms.
In the order, the CCPA has directed Amazon to notify all consumers of the 2,265 pressure cookers sold on its platform, recall the pressure cookers and reimburse the prices to the consumers and submit a compliance report of the same within 45 days.
The CCPA said after examination of the response submitted by Amazon, it was observed that a total of 2,265 pressure cookers sold through Amazon did not conform to mandatory standards. "The total fee earned by Amazon on sale of such pressure cookers through its platform was Rs 6,14,825.41," the CCPA said.
The authority said Amazon admitted that it earned a ‘sales commission’ fee for the pressure cookers sold on its platform. "It was observed by CCPA that when Amazon earns commercially from each sale of the product listed on its e-commerce platform, it cannot disassociate itself in case of issues arising from the sale of products through its platform," it added.
Earlier, the CCPA had issued safety notices to alert and caution consumers against buying goods that do not hold valid ISI marks and violate compulsory BIS standards.
While the first safety notice was issued with regard to helmets, pressure cookers, and cooking gas cylinders, the second safety notice was issued with regard to household goods including electric immersion water heaters, sewing machines, microwave ovens, and domestic gas stoves with LPG, etc.
It may be mentioned that the CCPA had initiated suo moto action against e-commerce platforms for the sale of domestic pressure cookers in violation of compulsory standards on its e-commerce platforms.
The CCPA had issued notices to major e-commerce platforms, including Amazon, Flipkart, Paytm Mall, Shopclues, and Snapdeal as well as to the sellers registered on these platforms.
