New Delhi

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration has issued a notice to Amazon over "deceptive trade practices" after ordinary sweets were sold on the e-commerce platform as divine offerings (or prasad) from Ram Temple in Ayodhya. The sweets were allegedly being sold under the name 'Shri Ram Mandir Ayodhya Prasad.'

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The action was taken in response to a complaint filed by the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) which said that the Seattle-headquartered e-commerce giant is misleading consumers by selling sweets in the name of "prasad" from the temple that is yet to be inaugurated. 

The response of Indian government

The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), India's consumer rights watchdog, said that such practices mislead consumers about the actual nature of the products with inaccurate representations.

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"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 CCPA said in a statement.

These products sold as Ram Mandir 'prasad' on Amazon

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The products in question listed on Amazon include '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.

What next?

Amazon is supposed to respond to the notice by the Indian consumer watchdog in the next seven days.

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If the e-commerce platform fails to take necessary action, the CCPS can initiate action against Amazon under the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.