To curb the distribution of non-compliant products through e-commerce platforms, the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) 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, the government said in a statement today.
In a recent search conducted on March 7 at an Amazon warehouse in Lucknow, the BIS seized 215 toys and 24 hand blenders, all lacking mandatory BIS certification. In February, a similar operation at an Amazon warehouse in Gurugram led to the seizure of 58 aluminium foils, 34 metallic water bottles, 25 toys, 20 hand blenders, 7 PVC cables, 2 food mixers and 1 speaker - all found to be non-certified.
Similarly, in a search at a Flipkart warehouse in Gurugram operated by Instakart Services Pvt Ltd, the BIS seized 534 stainless steel bottles (vacuum insulated), 134 toys and 41 speakers that were not certified.
The 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.
Non-certified products seized include brands like Digismart, Activa, Inalsa, Cello Swift, and Butterfly, among others.
The BIS took legal action under the BIS Act, 2016 to hold the responsible entities accountable. BIS has already filed two cases against Techvision International Pvt Ltd. Additional cases are in the process of being filed for other seizure operations, the government said.
BIS is actively conducting market surveillance to ensure that consumer products available in the market, including on e-commerce platforms, comply with applicable safety and quality standards. As part of surveillance, BIS buys consumer products and subjects them to rigorous testing to verify compliance with the prescribed standards.
The products under market surveillance include commonly used consumer goods such as domestic pressure cookers, handheld blenders, food mixers, electric irons, room heaters, PVC cables, gas stoves, toys, two-wheeler helmets, switches, sockets, and aluminium foils for food packaging. Considering the potential hazards posed by substandard quality products, the central government has made BIS certification mandatory for these products.
During its surveillance, BIS identified that several non-certified products are being sold on e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, Flipkart, Meesho, Myntra, and BigBasket, even though BIS certification has been made mandatory for these products.
Non-certified products include those that do not bear ISI mark or bear an ISI mark with an invalid licence numbers). These non-certified products pose significant safety risks to consumers as they have not undergone independent third-party testing to ensure they meet minimum safety and performance standards.
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 the central government, it said in the statement.
