BIS intensifies crackdowns e-comm warehouses, seizes substandard products

Earlier this week, officials conducted a search and seizure operation at the warehouse of Amazon Sellers Pvt Ltd, located in the Mohan Cooperative Industrial Area in Delhi.

“The operation lasted over 15 hours, during which more than 3,500 products—both without an Indian Standards Institute (ISI) mark and bearing fake ISI labels—were seized,” stated a release from the department.

The seized goods, including geysers, food mixers, and other electrical appliances, were valued at around Rs 70 lakh.

The National Standards Body of India is part of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).

In a separate raid at the warehouse of Instakart Services Pvt Ltd—a subsidiary of e-commerce platform Flipkart—located in Trinagar, officials found a stock of sports footwear packaged for dispatch without the mandatory ISI mark and date of manufacture.

“Approximately 590 pairs of sports footwear, worth around Rs six lakh, were seized during this operation,” the release added.

Over the past month, BIS has carried out similar enforcement actions across multiple cities including Delhi, Gurugram, Faridabad, Lucknow, and Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu. These operations have resulted in the seizure of various non-compliant consumer items.

Earlier this month, BIS seized 215 toys and 24 hand blenders lacking mandatory certification from an Amazon warehouse in Lucknow. Last month, another raid at an Amazon warehouse in Gurugram led to the seizure of 58 aluminium foils, 34 metallic water bottles, 25 toys, 20 hand blenders, seven PVC cables, two food mixers, and one speaker—all uncertified.

Similarly, at a Flipkart warehouse in Gurugram operated by Instakart Services Pvt Ltd, BIS seized 534 stainless steel vacuum-insulated bottles, 134 toys, and 41 speakers, none of which had valid certification.

“These raids are part of the Bureau of Indian Standards’ ongoing efforts to enforce compliance with quality standards for consumer protection,” the release further stated.

Currently, 769 products have been notified for compulsory certification. The manufacturing, import, distribution, sale, hiring, leasing, storing, or exhibition for sale of these products without a valid licence or Certificate of Conformity (CoC) from BIS is prohibited.