The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has issued a notice to Amazon, accusing the e-commerce giant of participating in “deceptive trade practices” related to the sale of sweets marketed as ‘Shri Ram Mandir Ayodhya Prasad.’ This action comes following a complaint filed by the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), asserting that Amazon is misleading consumers by selling sweets under the guise of “prasad” from the yet-to-be-inaugurated Ram Temple in Ayodhya.
The CCPA has highlighted that such practices create confusion among consumers regarding the true characteristics of the products, ultimately impacting their purchasing decisions based on inaccurate representations.
The CCPA stated, “Enabling the sale of food products online that make false representations misleads consumers regarding the genuine characteristics of the product. Such practice falsely influences consumers to make purchase decisions they might not have otherwise taken, had the accurate attributes of the product been mentioned.”
The specific products flagged on Amazon’s platform include items like ‘Sri Ram Mandir Ayodhya Prasad – Raghupati Ghee Ladoo, Ayodhya Ram Mandir Ayodhya Prasad, Khoya Khobi Ladoo, Ram Mandir Ayodhya Prasad – Desi Cow Milk Peda,’ among others.
Amazon has been given a seven-day period to respond to the notice issued by the CCPA. Failure to do so may result in necessary actions being initiated against the company under the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
