CCPA fines Amazon, Flipkart and JioMart over Cyclosinone listings

MUMBAI: The pesticide listings have hit a regulatory weed patch, with the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) penalising Amazon, Flipkart and JioMart over the online sale and promotion of a product marketed as “Cyclosinone Herbicide”.

The CCPA has imposed penalties of Rs 10 lakh each on Amazon and Flipkart and Rs 5 lakh on JioMart. The regulator has also directed all three e-commerce marketplaces to stop selling and advertising the product and conduct self-audits to identify listings that breach legal requirements or could pose risks to consumers.

The orders, issued on 22 September, give the platforms 15 days to submit compliance reports to the regulator.

The proceedings followed a complaint from the Crop Care Federation of India (CCFI), which was forwarded to the CCPA through the Union Ministry of Agriculture. During the investigation, the Agriculture Ministry informed the regulator that “Cyclosinone” does not appear in the Schedule to the Insecticides Act, 1968.

The product was being offered on the platforms without specifying the chemical name of its active ingredient or disclosing its composition. The Agriculture Ministry told the CCPA that the regulatory framework governing insecticides and pesticides is designed to address requirements relating to safety, quality and bio-efficacy.

The regulator found that the three marketplaces had not independently established the product’s regulatory status before allowing the listings to appear on their platforms.

Amazon’s case included 38,410 orders covering 43,634 units, with sales totalling Rs 96.43 lakh, according to the CCPA order.

The regulator also rejected the argument that responsibility for ensuring compliance rested solely with third-party sellers. It held that contractual arrangements between marketplaces and sellers do not remove obligations imposed on e-commerce entities by law.

The CCPA referred to Rule 4(3) of the E-Commerce Rules, which prohibits e-commerce entities from engaging in unfair trade practices.

According to the regulator, seller declarations alone cannot provide sufficient assurance because sellers may submit inaccurate or incomplete information. The CCPA linked the issue to weaknesses in seller onboarding, product verification and content moderation processes.

Alongside the financial penalties, the CCPA has instructed Amazon, Flipkart and JioMart to undertake self-audits of their listings. The exercise is intended to identify products that may fail to meet legal requirements or potentially endanger consumers.

The 15-day compliance deadline puts the focus not only on the disputed Cyclosinone listings but also on how marketplaces vet products before they reach consumers.

The CCPA clarified that its proceedings were confined to the conduct of the e-commerce platforms, including alleged violations involving consumer rights, misleading advertising and unfair trade practices.

Questions concerning the manufacture, composition or scientific properties of the product itself fall within the jurisdiction of other competent authorities, the regulator said.

The orders therefore put the spotlight on a wider e-commerce question: when a marketplace opens its shelves to thousands of third-party sellers, how much checking can be left at the seller’s doorstep? For the CCPA, the Cyclosinone case has made clear that seller declarations alone are not the end of that compliance trail.