BIS raids on Amazon and Flipkart warehouses, poor quality goods seized

The government on Thursday revealed the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) conducted mass raids on the warehouses of Amazon and Flipkart and seized thousands of products without proper quality certificates.

A raid lasting 15 hours was carried out on 19th March at Amazon Sellers Private Limited's warehouse in the Mohan Cooperative Industrial Area. The BIS officials seized more than 3,500 electric items like geysers and food mixers worth approximately Rs 70 lakh.

In another raid on Flipkart's subsidiary Instacart Services, 590 sports shoes without the compulsory manufacturing mark have been seized for a value of about Rs 6 lakh, according to an official statement.

The action is a continuation of a countrywide drive by the BIS to enforce quality standards. Raids on several places like Delhi, Gurugram, Faridabad, Lucknow, and Sriperumbudur were conducted last month.

These raids are crucial to ensure consumer safety and maintain product quality standards, the statement said. Currently, 769 product categories require mandatory certification from Indian regulators. Selling or distributing these items without the proper license may attract legal penalties, including possible imprisonment and fines under the BIS Act of 2016. Amazon and Flipkart have not yet commented on the raids.