The Indian government has penalised Amazon for not displaying the country of origin next to product listings, PTI reported. The e-commerce company has reportedly been fined ₹25,000 for each director. In July, the Consumer Affairs 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. Following that, the Ministry had, in October, sent notices to both 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 of some product listings. Amazon was penalised because the Ministry reportedly didn’t find the company’s response to the notice satisfactory. Flipkart has not yet been fined, the report added. We have reached out to Amazon for comment, and will update the story when they respond. Mandatory display of country of origin for e-commerce cos The Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020, notified by the Consumer Affairs Ministry in July direct e-commerce companies to display the country of origin alongside product listings. On top of that they will also have to reveal the parameters that go behind determining product listings on their platforms. While the requirement to display country of origin was already a necessity under the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011, the enforcement of these rules coincided with the ban of several Chinese-owned apps, followed by skirmishes between India and China at the border. Following that, the government had also told the…
