Delhi High Court orders Flipkart to deposit Rs 1 lakh penalty within one week; Here's WHY

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New Delhi: Delhi High Court has ordered e-commerce giant Flipkart to deposit Rs 1 lakh penalty imposed by the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) to the Registrar General of the Court within one week and informed the buyers of all the pressure cookers in question. However, the court has put on abeyance the authority's order for recalling pressure cookers and reimbursing to the buyers.

Earlier, The CCPA had imposed a penalty of Rs 1 lakh on Flipkart for selling sub-standardised pressure cookers. The authority had directed the company to notify customers of all the sold cookers in question, recalled them and reimbursed money to all the consumers.

"When Flipkart has gained commercially from the sale of such pressure cookers, it cannot alienate itself from the role and responsibility arising out of their sale to consumers," CCPA said.

"Provisions in the 'Flipkart Terms of Use' such as mandatory use of the words 'Powered by Flipkart' on every invoice of the product and distinguishing sellers as Gold, Silver and Bronze for distribution of various benefits indicates the role played by Flipkart in the sale of the pressure cookers on its e-commerce platform," the authority observed.

Delhi Bench headed by Justice Yashwant Varma has kept the CCPA order in abeyance of recalling of the cookers and reimbursement to the customers as of now.

In Similiar instance, The Court had previously issued an order against Amazon on September 20. The order instructed the e-commerce website to inform the customers of the 2,265 pressure cookers sold on its platform of the CCPA's order regarding the pressure cookers' non-conformity with BIS standards.

As per the Domestic Pressure Cooker (Quality Control) Order, 2020, which came into force on February 1, 2021, all pressure cookers are required to mandatorily conform to standard - IS 2347:2017 and compulsorily use the standard mark for domestic pressure cooker.

(With PTI Inputs)