Amazon, Flipkart, Meta fined for illegal sale of walkie-talkies

The Central Consumer Protection Authority has penalised major e-commerce platforms for illegally listing and selling walkie-talkies operating on restricted frequency bands. The action follows the detection of nearly 17,000 non-compliant listings and violations of telecom and consumer protection laws

New Delhi: The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has taken suo motu cognisance of the large-scale illegal listing and sale of walkie-talkies (personal mobile radios) on e-commerce platforms and has imposed monetary penalties on leading online marketplaces such as Amazon, Flipkart and Meta for violations of consumer protection laws and telecom regulations, according to an official statement issued on Friday.

Many of these devices were found to operate in the ultra-high frequency (UHF) band, which is a regulated spectrum also used by police, emergency services, disaster response agencies and other critical communication networks. The action follows the identification of over 16,970 non-compliant walkie-talkie listings across platforms. Notices were issued to 13 e-commerce entities, including Amazon, Flipkart, Meesho, JioMart, Meta (Facebook Marketplace), Talk Pro, Chimiya, MaskMan Toys, India Mart, TradeIndia, Antriksh Technologies, Vardaanmart and Krishna Mart, the statement said.

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The Authority found that several platforms were facilitating the sale of walkie-talkies operating on restricted and sensitive radio frequency bands, without mandatory statutory approvals or disclosures. These devices were sold without informing consumers about the radio frequency range on which the device operates, whether the device requires a government licence or whether it has obtained Equipment Type Approval (ETA). This is a mandatory technical approval issued by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to ensure that wireless devices are compliant, safe and permitted for use in India.

Several products were wrongly advertised as “license-free” or “100 per cent legal”, even though their use requires government approval. In some cases, walkie-talkies were sold as toys but had very long communication ranges of up to 30 kilometres. In addition, many product listings did not clearly mention important details such as the operating frequency or whether the device had ETA, making it difficult for consumers to know if the product was legal to buy and use.

The sale, import and use of walkie-talkies in India are regulated under the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, the Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1933, and the Use of Low Power and Very Low Power Short Range Radio Frequency Devices (Exemption from Licensing Requirement) Rules, 2018. Under these rules, only walkie-talkies operating strictly within the 446.0–446.2 MHz frequency band are exempted from licensing. Even such licence-exempted devices must obtain ETA certification before being imported or sold in India.

Failure to comply with these requirements also constitutes misleading advertisement, unfair trade practice and deficiency in service under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, and violates the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules.

To prevent recurrence of such violations, the CCPA has notified the Guidelines for the Prevention and Regulation of Illegal Listing and Sale of Radio Equipment, including Walkie-Talkies on E-Commerce Platforms, 2025, in consultation with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

The CCPA, headed by Chief Commissioner Nidhi Khare and Commissioner Anupam Mishra, has issued final orders in eight cases, namely Meesho (Fashnear Technologies Pvt. Ltd.), Talk Pro (Iconet Services Pvt. Ltd.), MaskMan Toys, Chimiya, JioMart, Meta Platforms Inc. (Facebook Marketplace), Flipkart and Amazon. Proceedings against Antriksh Technologies, India Mart, TradeIndia, Vardaanmart and Krishna Mart are currently at various stages of investigation or hearing, the statement added.