448 Notices served to E-Commerce Entities for Violations of Declaration during Last One Year and Nine Months

The Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today informed that the Legal metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules 2011 under the Legal Metrology Act, 2009 provides that an E-Commerce entity shall ensure that name and address of the manufacturer or packer or importer, maximum Retail Price (MRP), Country of Origin, Common or Generic name of the commodity, Net Quantity, Month and Year of manufacture, Customer Care details etc shall be displayed on the digital and electronic network used for e-commerce transactions.

This is done to ensure that the consumer is making an intelligent decision based on the product’s listing on the e-commerce platform.

The Legal Metrology Division, Department of Consumer Affairs, issued 38 notices from 16th October 2020 to 31st December 2020, 232 notices from 1st January 2021 to 31st December 2021, and 178 notices from 1st January 2022 to 11th July 2022 for declaration violations by e-commerce companies. An amount of approximately Rs. 77, 90,500 in the form of compounding fees was realised from e-commerce companies. In cases of infringement of the 2011 Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, State Governments are also authorised to take action.