₹44 Lakh Penalty Imposed on E-commerce Firms for Selling Illegal Walkie-Talkies
The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has imposed a total fine of ₹4.4 million on eight e-commerce platforms for selling unauthorized walkie-talkies. Flipkart, Amazon, Meesho, and Meta were fined ₹10 lakh each. These platforms were selling walkie-talkies operating outside the license-exempt frequency band without Equipment Type Approval (ETA), a violation of consumer rights and telecommunications laws. The CCPA has also ordered a self-audit.
The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has suo motu proceedings against e-commerce companies for advertising and selling illegal walkie-talkies on their platforms, contrary to the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, and telecommunication laws. An aggregate penalty of ₹4.4 million has been imposed on the eight e-commerce companies.
The Consumer Affairs Secretary, Nidhi Khare, said that Meesho, MetaPlatforms Inc. (Facebook Marketplace), Flipkart, and Amazon were fined ₹10lakh each. Others who were fined ₹1lakh include Chimia, JioMart, Tak Pro, and Maskman Ties.
These fines have been levied for violating consumer rights, deceptive advertisements, and unfair trade practices. Meesho, Meta, Chimia, JioMart, and Tak Pro have paid their fines. Payments from the remaining platforms are awaited.
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The CCPA’s investigation revealed that these services enabled the use of personal mobile radios (PMRs) operating on a frequency band that was not license-exempt without Equipment Type Approval (ETA) or proper mention of the licensing requirements.
Under current rules, license exemptions apply only to PMRs operating in the 446.0-446.2 MHz band. According to Rule 5 of the Low Power and Very Low Power Short Range Radio Frequency Devices Rules, 2018, manufacturers and sellers are required to obtain an ETA before importing, selling, or operating such devices.
In addition, the authority has issued notices to 13 e-commerce platforms, including Chimia, JioMart, TakPro, Meesho, Maskman Toys, TradeIndia, Antrix Technologies, VardhmanMart, IndiaMart, Meta Platforms Inc., Flipkart, KrishnaMart, and Amazon. Over 16,970 non-compliant products have been identified on these platforms.
The CCPA has directed major e-commerce platforms to conduct self-audits to ensure they do not violate the rules by listing fraudulent products. Platforms must publish the audit certificate online.
Also, instructions have been given to strengthen the pre-listing system so that no radio equipment with statutory approval can be listed on the platform without following the rules.
