BIS raids Amazon, Flipkart warehouses, seizes substandard goods

BIS has conducted extensive raids on Amazon and Flipkart warehouses here, seizing thousands of products lacking proper quality certifications

New Delhi: The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has conducted extensive raids on Amazon and Flipkart warehouses here, seizing thousands of products lacking proper quality certifications, the government said on Thursday.

In a 15-hour operation on March 19 at an Amazon Sellers Pvt Ltd warehouse in Mohan Cooperative Industrial Area, BIS officials confiscated more than 3,500 electrical products, including geysers and food mixers, valued at approximately Rs 70 lakh. A separate raid at Instakart Services, a Flipkart subsidiary, resulted in the seizure of 590 pairs of sports footwear without required manufacturing marks, worth around Rs 6 lakh, an official statement said.

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This operation is part of a broader nationwide drive by BIS to enforce quality standards. In the past month, similar raids were conducted in multiple locations, including Delhi, Gurugram, Faridabad, Lucknow, and Sriperumbudur. These raids are critical to ensuring consumer safety and maintaining product quality standards, the statement added.

Currently, 769 product categories require mandatory certification from Indian regulators. Selling or distributing these items without proper licensing can result in legal penalties, including potential imprisonment and fines under the BIS Act of 2016. Amazon and Flipkart have not yet commented on the raids.