Traders body accuses Amazon, Flipkart, Zomato, and Swiggy of flouting rules

NEW DELHI: Traders' body CAIT has written to Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal accusing Amazon, Flipkart, Zomato, Swiggy, and various other e-commerce entities for allegedly flouting rules, and demanded immediate action against them.

Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said that Rule 10 of Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011, provides that e-commerce entities have to display details of the manufacturer, 'country of origin' and common/generic name of the product, MRP, and dimensions of the commodity, among others.

"This rule was introduced in June 2017 and provided a transition period of 6 months, thereby its implementation from January 1, 2018, but even after a lapse of three years, the above rules are not being complied by e-commerce companies prominently by Amazon, Flipkart, etc.," Khandelwal said.

E-mails sent to Amazon, Flipkart, Zomato and Swiggy did not elicit responses.

He alleged that similar obligations were imposed on e-commerce food business operators (FBOs) vide guidelines issued by the Food Safety and Standards Authority (FSSAI) on February 2, 2017, but FBOs like Zomato and Swiggy are not complying with the above rules.

"It is a case of daylight robbery of e-commerce entities in India and, therefore, demands immediate action against the erring e-commerce portals and online mechanism providers," CAIT stated.