More substandard goods seized in BIS raids on Amazon, Flipkart warehouses

New Delhi: The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has seized more goods that did not have the mandatory ISI mark or had fake ISI labels from Amazon and Flipkart warehouses as part of the crackdown against shoddy goods being sold on e-commerce platforms, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs on Thursday.

“The BIS conducted a search and seizure operation at the warehouses of Amazon Sellers Pvt Ltd, located in Mohan Cooperative Industrial Area, Delhi, on March 19. The operation lasted over 15 hours and more than 3,500 products, both without an ISI mark and marked with fake ISI labels, were seized. The total estimated value of the seized products like geysers, food mixers, and other electrical appliances is around Rs. 70 lakhs,” the statement said.

In another raid conducted at Instakart Services Pvt Limited, a Flipkart subsidiary located in Trinagar, Delhi, the BIS unearthed a stock of sports footwear packaged for dispatch without the necessary ISI mark and date of manufacture. Approximately 590 pairs of sports footwear, worth around Rs 6 lakh, were seized during this operation, according to the statement.

In the last one month, the BIS team has conducted similar operations in different parts of the country and seized various substandard items in Delhi, Gurugram, Faridabad, Lucknow, and Sriperumbudur.

These raids are part of the Bureau of Indian Standards’ ongoing efforts to enforce compliance with quality standards for consumer protection. Currently, there are 769 products notified for compulsory certification by various regulators, and the line ministries of the Centre. It is prohibited to manufacture, import, distribute, sell, hire, lease, store, or exhibit for sale these products without a valid license or Certificate of Compliance from BIS.

Any person who contravenes the provisions of this Order is punishable, under the BIS Act, 2016, with imprisonment, a fine, or both.

–IANS