The Consumer Affairs Ministry on Friday sent notices to Amazon and Flipkart asking them to explain — within fifteen days — why action shouldn’t be taken against them for not displaying the country of origin in some product listings. In July, the Ministry had notified e-commerce rules for consumer protection, which mandate platforms like Amazon and Flipkart to display the country of origin alongside the products they offer, among other things. Mint first reported this, and a copy of the notices was shared with MediaNama by Praveen Khandelwal, national general secretary of the traders’ lobby Confederation of All India Traders. Watch: Rahul Narayan, a Supreme Court Advocate, explains the feasibility of displaying country of origin of products available on e-commerce platforms: [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_0KGasjsE0[/embed] As part of their responses, Amazon and Flipkart will also have to furnish the following details, among other things, within fifteen days: The names, residential addresses of people “responsible for the conduct of the business” as well as all the owners, partners, or directors, including the police station jurisdiction under which they reside Details of offences framed under the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011 (which require e-tailers to display country of origin of product listings), against the company in the last three years Nature of the ownership of the firm A copy of registration certificate of the GST, or a partnership deed, depending on the type of company. If the companies fail to respond within fifteen days, the Ministry said, it will initiate actions against the two…
