Government tightens crackdown on fake, smuggled goods sold online ahead of festive season

NEW DELHI: The festive shopping rush is getting a closer look from the government, with authorities stepping up efforts to keep fake, smuggled and substandard products off ecommerce platforms.

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) is working with major ecommerce platforms and other agencies to identify suspicious sellers and products, according to an Economic Times report.

The scrutiny is focused on imported goods being sold at unusually low prices, products suspected of entering the country through smuggling channels and merchandise being offered without mandatory certification or proper declarations.

The exercise covers a wide range of consumer products, including electronic items, watches, perfumes and cosmetics. Authorities are also examining products that do not carry the required country-of-origin information.

The timing is significant. Online shopping typically sees a sharp increase during the festive season, creating a larger flow of consumer goods across digital marketplaces and last-mile delivery networks.

The government is also turning its attention to the rapidly expanding network of dark stores used for quick-commerce and online deliveries.

These hyperlocal fulfilment centres have grown rapidly across Indian cities, but their dispersed nature can make monitoring more difficult. Authorities are also examining concerns around possible under-reporting of turnover and revenue.

India’s ecommerce market is expected to nearly triple to $345 billion by 2030 from $125 billion in 2024, according to research consultancy Infisum. The country’s dark-store network is also projected to almost triple, reaching around 7,500 outlets by 2030 from 2,525 in 2025.

The expansion means more products are moving through increasingly complex online supply chains, making verification of sellers, imports and product standards a bigger challenge.

The latest exercise comes against the backdrop of a much larger illicit-trade market in India.

A study by FICCI-CASCADE estimated illicit trade across five key sectors, including textiles, apparel and FMCG, at around Rs 7.97 lakh crore annually.

Counterfeit and substandard products have also attracted increasing attention from consumer authorities, particularly where safety, authenticity and product information are concerned.

The government had undertaken a broader monitoring exercise around the rollout of GST 2.0, working with ecommerce companies and other stakeholders to track consumer complaints, pricing concerns and potentially non-compliant transactions.

This time, the focus is more specifically on the physical products moving through the ecommerce ecosystem, from their entry into India to their eventual sale to consumers.

With festive demand set to put further pressure on online marketplaces and delivery networks, authorities are looking to tighten checks before questionable products reach shoppers rather than relying solely on action after complaints emerge.