The Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Ashwini Kumar Choubey in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha informed that in order to protect the rights of consumers as a class, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has issued Notices to such e-commerce entities.
They were found to be selling pressure cookers in violation to Domestic Pressure Cooker (Quality Control) Order, 2020, under which Central Government has directed conformity to standard and compulsory use of standard mark to prevent risk of injury or harm to consumers. So far, 15 notices have been sent to e-commerce entities and sellers found to be selling non-standard pressure cookers online.
To ensure conformity to standard and protect consumers from sub-standard goods, Central Government is empowered to direct compulsory use of standard mark under Section 16(1) of BIS Act, 2016. The directions are generally published in form of Quality Control Orders (QCOs). The QCO for Domestic Pressure Cooker came into force on 1st February, 2021 and QCO for Helmets came into force on 1st June, 2021.
BIS has also issued 3 notices for violation of Quality Control Order for Pressure Cookers and 2 notices for violation of Quality Control Order for Helmets. As against violations of mandatory declarations under the Legal Metrology Act 2009 and the rules made thereunder like country of origin, expiry date etc, 305 total cases have been booked for various violations from 16.10.2020 to 03.02.2022,