The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has fined Amazon Seller Services Private Limited ₹ 1 lakh. This penalty stems from the unauthorized sale of ordinary sweets labeled as “Shri Ram Mandir Ayodhya Prasad” on the platform. The CCPA determined that the listing lacked approval from the Ram Temple Trust, raising concerns over consumer rights and misleading advertising practices.
The penalty must be deposited within 15 days, it said.
The CCPA noted that devotees would, by default, consider the ‘Shri Ram Mandir Ayodhya Prasad’ as the food offered to and blessed by the deity, according to Bar and Bench.
The complaint mentioned four varieties of sweets listed by Chandu Trading Company under the brand Bihar Brothers, mainly ghee ladoos, khoya ladoos, boondi ladoos and cow milk pedas.
“The commercial appropriation of this phrase for ordinary confectionery products, without any authorisation from the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, constitutes not just a misleading trade practice under the CP Act but an affront to the religious sentiments of crores of consumers,” the order said.
