The government has imposed a penalty on e-commerce major 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.
This is the first such penalty that the government has imposed on an e-commerce player under The Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodity) Rules, which came into effect in 2018.
How much fine imposed
The consumer affairs ministry has asked ecommerce major Amazon India to pay a fine of Rs 75,000.
Penalty has been imposed on Amazon as its reply to the notice was not found satisfactory, as per the order issued by the ministry dated Nov. 19.
About Law and Provision
In January 2018, the government amended the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011 to add a new provision, mandating declaration of ‘country of origin’ for manufacturers, importers, packers and e-commerce entities.
In July, late Ram Vilas Paswan, the former consumer affairs minister, had said that state governments have been directed to strictly enforce the provision that requires companies and e-commerce players to display the ‘country of origin’ on all products.
The commerce ministry has now been asked to ensure that e-commerce players too comply with this rule strictly.
Notice from legal metrology department
“If you are willing to close the matter departmentally, you can compound the case as per section 48(1) of the Act on payment for credit to the government an amount of Rs 25,000 each on behalf of each director plus Rs 25,000 on behalf of the company.”
“In case the company failed to give a satisfactory reply within seven days, the department will be “constrained to initiate” prosecution proceedings against the firm and all the directors at a competent court without any further notice.”
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