The e-commerce platforms including Flipkart and Amazon have been found guilty of contravening the mandatory certification standards following an extensive investigation and raids on their multiple warehouses conducted by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) department of the government.
These digital marketplaces are found involved in storing and selling products deficient in BIS certifications, which the government organization has seized. Following the seizure of these goods, authorities have proceeded with legal action under the BIS Act 2016, an Act aimed at establishing a national standards authority to oversee the coordinated development of standardization, conformity assessment, and quality assurance for goods, articles, processes, systems, and services, along with related and ancillary matters.
Upon holding these entities accountable for the breach of the defined standard, the BIS has filed two cases against these online portals for violating Section 17 of the BIS Act. The act defines the standard for any provisional or tentative benchmark set and published by the Bureau concerning goods, articles, processes, systems, or services, serving as an indicator of their quality and specifications. This also includes any standard adopted by the Bureau under subsection (2) of Section 10; and any standard formulated, published, or recognized by the Bureau of Indian Standards, as established under the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 1986, that was in effect prior to the commencement of this Act.
In response to the Bureau of Indian Standards' action regarding the distribution of non-compliant products, Amazon stated on Sunday that it actively works to ensure a safe selection for its customers, which includes the removal of non-compliant items, as reported by ANI.
"We require sellers of all products to comply with applicable laws, regulations, and Amazon policies. We ensure our selection meets industry-accepted standards, and we develop innovative tools to prevent unsafe products from being listed. We take actions to maintain a safe selection for our customers, including removing non-compliant products, and outreach to sellers, manufacturers, and government agencies for additional information, when appropriate," said Amazon in a statement.
The Consumer Affairs Ministry stated that to prevent the distribution of non-compliant products on e-commerce platforms, the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) carried out search and seizure operations in cities such as Lucknow, Gurugram, and Delhi. As per ANI quoting ministry, a raid conducted on March 7 at an Amazon warehouse in Lucknow led to the seizure of hundreds of toys and plenty of hand blenders, all lacking the mandatory BIS certification. In a similar raid at an Amazon warehouse in Gurugram, in February 2025, authorities seized several aluminum foils, metallic water bottles, toys, hand blenders, PVC cables, food mixers, and speakers, needing required certification.
Additionally, a raid at a Flipkart warehouse in Gurugram, managed by Instakart Services Pvt Ltd, was conducted and resulted in BIS seizing hundreds of stainless-steel vacuum-insulated bottles, hundreds of toys, and multiple uncertified speakers, as reported by ANI.
"BIS's investigations into multiple violations on both Amazon and Flipkart traced non-certified products back to Techvision International Pvt Ltd," said the ministry.
Based on this information, BIS carried out raids at two Techvision International facilities in Delhi, where officials discovered thousands of electric water heaters and electric food mixers, while multiple electric room heaters, and gas stoves required BIS certification. The ministry's statement further noted that the seized non-certified products included brands such as Digismart, Activa, Inalsa, Cello Swift, and Butterfly, among others, as per ANI reports.
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