The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has imposed a penalty of ₹5 lakh on Flipkart for facilitating the sale of toys that did not comply with mandatory Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) requirements..Chief Commissioner Nidhi Khare and Commissioner Anupam Mishra also directed Flipkart to ensure that no non-compliant toy is listed, hosted, advertised, exhibited or offered for sale on its platform in the future.The CCPA rejected Flipkart’s contention that it was merely a neutral intermediary connecting third-party sellers with consumers. It noted that Flipkart used algorithms to label products as “Flipkart Assured”, “Best Seller”, “Trending” and “AD”. It said,“Because the Opposite party uses algorithms to tag a product as ‘Flipkart Assured’, ‘Best Seller’, ‘Trending’ ‘AD’, then it is no longer a neutral host.”The Authority said the “Flipkart Assured” label could lead consumers to believe that the platform had verified the safety and quality of a product. Allowing non-compliant toys to be sold under such labels amounted to a false guarantee, it held..The case arose from a suo motu inquiry into the sale of toys on Flipkart that allegedly failed to conform to the Toys (Quality Control) Order, 2020. The order, which came into effect on January 1, 2021, requires toys intended for children below 14 years to conform to prescribed safety standards and carry the BIS Standard Mark.Flipkart disclosed that 4 sellers had sold 1,338 toys after the quality control order came into force. The sellers earned around ₹5.45 lakh from these transactions, while Flipkart received fees of approximately ₹1.43 lakh.An investigation subsequently found that toys without the requisite BIS certification continued to be listed on Flipkart until December 2025. The CCPA said that the platform had failed to remove or disable access to such products expeditiously despite acquiring actual knowledge of the violations.Flipkart argued that it neither manufactured nor sold the listed products and never had physical possession of them. It invoked the safe-harbour protection available to intermediaries under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act, 2000.The company maintained that sellers were responsible for securing BIS certification. It said sellers were contractually required to comply with applicable laws and that offending listings were removed whenever specific violations were brought to its notice..However, the CCPA held that a platform’s obligations under consumer law depended on its functional role and impact on consumers and could not be avoided through self-characterisation.It found Flipkart to have engaged in unfair trade practices and misleading advertisements. The company was also directed to prominently display its contact number, email address and grievance officer’s details and submit a compliance report within 15 days..Flipkart was represented by Advocates Dheeraj Nair and Vrishtyui Sahni from JSA Advocates & Solicitors..[Read Order]
