Parliament Question: Guidelines to prevent the sale of substandard products

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION DEPARTMENT OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 1961 TO BE ANSWERED ON 10.03.2026 GUIDELINES TO PREVENT THE SALE OF SUBSTANDARD PRODUCTS 1961. DR. KANIMOZHI NVN SOMU: Will the Minister of CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION be pleased to state: (a) the regulations and guidelines in place to prevent the sale of substandard, counterfeit or misbranded products on e-commerce platforms; (b) the monitoring, inter-agency coordination and grievance redressal mechanisms, including coordination with FSSAI and CDSCO, particularly for food, pharmaceutical, electronics and consumer goods sectors; and (c) the penalties, fines or enforcement actions taken against platforms or sellers, sector-wise, during the last three years? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE, CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION (SHRI B.L. VERMA) (a) to (c) : The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Act, 2016 contains provisions to prevent the manufacture and sale of products that misuse the BIS Standard Mark or violate Quality Control Orders (QCOs). Central Government through QCOs may make compliance with Indian Standards mandatory for certain products in the interest of public safety, environmental protection, prevention of unfair trade practices, national security, and the protection of human, animal, or plant health. In the last three years, a total of 79 search and seizure operations have been conducted at the premises of sellers and warehouses operating through e-commerce platforms by BIS. In order to regulate online marketing companies engaged in selling food items, FSSAI, in 2018, has specified procedures for the licensing and registration of e-commerce food business operators (FBO) along with their responsibilities. Accordingly, E-commerce FBOs are required to ensure that all listed sellers are licensed /registered, provide mandatory food, ensure minimum shelf life, train delivery personnel, avoid misleading claims and delist non-compliant products. Additionally, they must also maintain hygiene standards, facilitate sampling and promptly address consumer complaints. To ensure compliance with these standards, limits, and other statutory requirements under the FSS Act, 2006 and the Food Safety and Standards Regulations (FSSRs), FSSAI, through State/UT food safety authorities and its four regional offices, conducts regular enforcement and surveillance drives, inspections, and sampling activities throughout the year. FSSAI also operates a dedicated consumer grievance portal on FoSCoS, where consumers can lodge complaints or report misleading claims against Food Business Operators (FBOs).In cases where the Food Business Operator and/ or food samples as the case may be are found non-compliant, penal action is initiated against the defaulting FBOs in accordance with the provisions of the FSS Act, Rules, and Regulations. Ministry of Ayush has launched an IT enabled online portal “Ayush Suraksha” to track the reported Misleading Advertisements (MLAs)/Objectionable Advertisements (OAs) and Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) on 30th May 2025.The portal features a centralized dashboard for capturing of MLAs/OAs and tracking of suspected ADRs for prompt regulatory action and comprehensive data analysis. The Portal is functioning in collaboration with key regulatory bodies including all State/UT Licensing Authorities, Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), Pharmacy Council of India(PCI), MOI&B, National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (NCISM), National Consumer Helpline(NCH) and Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). Further, in pursuance of clause (b) of sub-section (3) of section 79 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of 2000) read with clause (d) of sub-rule (1) of rule 3 of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, Central Government vide Gazette notification no S.O. 5323(E) dated 19/11/2025 designated, the Coordinator, National Pharmacovigilance Coordination Centre, All India Institute of Ayurveda, New Delhi, as the nodal officer for the purpose of issuing notice to intermediaries in relation to any information, data or communication link residing in or connected to a computer resource controlled by the intermediary being used to commit the unlawful act, in respect to the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954 (21 of 1954), the National Commission for Indian System of Medicine Act, 2020 (14 of 2020) and the National Commission for Homeopathy Act 2020 (15 of 2020). Ministry of Ayush, All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA), New Delhi has been on boarded on the SAHYOG portal of MeitY in January 2026. Since on boarding, notices have been issued against a total of 29 URLs of various social media platforms, out of which 16 URLs have been removed or disabled to date. The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has been established under Section-10 of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 to regulate the matters related to violation of rights of consumers, unfair trade practices and false or misleading advertisements and protect and enforce the rights of the consumers as a class. To alert and caution consumers against dangerous or hazardous or unsafe goods or services, CCPA has issued Safety Notices under Section 18(2)(j) of the Act. Safety Notice was issued on 6.12.21 with regard to Helmets, Pressure Cookers and Cooking gas cylinders which do not hold a valid ISI Mark and violate compulsory BIS standards. Safety Notice was issued on 16.12.21 with regard to household goods including electric immersion water heaters, sewing machines, microwave ovens, domestic gas stoves with LPG etc. CCPA took action against ecommerce platforms for sale of domestic pressure cookers, without ISI mark and mandatory standards stipulated under the Domestic Pressure Cooker (Quality Control) Order, 2020. A direction was issued to various e-commerce platforms and sellers (Amazon, Snapdeal, Flipkart, Shopclues, Paytm Mall, Tekshiv System Pvt. Ltd, Sohil Impex, Cloudtail India Pvt. Ltd, Hardtrac Computers Services Pvt. Ltd, Idle Brain e-Tail) to recall 5507 units of domestic pressure cookers and reimburse the purchase price to the consumers. Additionally, a penalty of ₹ 1,00,000/- each was imposed. Additionally, CCPA directed Snapdeal, Zoo Bee / Mowak, Anvi Stationary (Toys) to recall the toys which were being sold on e-commerce platforms in violation to mandatory standards and Quality Control Order (QCO) notified for toys. *****