Amazon fined Rs 1 lakh for misleading 'Ram Mandir Prasad' sweet listings

The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has imposed a penalty of Rs 1 lakh on e-commerce platform Amazon for allowing misleading advertisements and listings that sold ordinary sweets as "Shri Ram Mandir Ayodhya Prasad". The authority found that these products were marketed without any authorisation from the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, the official body that manages the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

The order came after a complaint filed by the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) in January 2024. The traders' body alleged that commercially manufactured sweets were being sold on Amazon under names implying they were authentic prasad from the Ram Temple, without any affiliation or endorsement from the temple or the trust.

According to CCPA, four such products — listed by Chandu Trading Company under the Bihar Brothers brand — were found on the platform. These included ghee laddu, khoya laddu, ghee boondi laddu, and desi cow milk peda, priced between Rs 299 and Rs 385. The listings used religious imagery and references to Lord Ram and Ayodhya. Some descriptions claimed the items carried "Blessings from Shree Ram Janam Bhumi Temple, Ayodhya", while the ingredient list referred to the contents as "Ram Mandir Prasad".

In its order, CCPA observed that the phrase "Shri Ram Mandir Ayodhya Prasad" has a specific and widely understood meaning for Hindu devotees — it denotes food offered to and blessed by the deity at the Ram Temple. The unauthorised commercial use of this phrase for ordinary confectionery, the authority said, constituted a misleading trade practice under the Consumer Protection Act and also hurt the religious sentiments of millions of consumers.

The authority also noted that the listings were particularly concerning because they were live shortly before the consecration ceremony of the Ram Temple, when religious interest and consumer demand were at their peak.

Amazon removed the listings after receiving a show-cause notice from CCPA on January 19, 2024, and disclosed the identity of the third-party seller. The company argued that it was only a marketplace intermediary and that the seller was solely responsible for listing, pricing, and describing the products.

However, CCPA held that by hosting and facilitating the sale of these listings, Amazon was a party to the publication of the misleading advertisements under Section 21(4) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019. The authority pointed out that Amazon had earned a commission or marketplace fee from these sales.

Amazon clarified to CCPA that sales from the four disputed listings generated Rs 39,802, from which the company received Rs 15,165 as a service fee. An earlier figure of Rs 25.3 lakh mentioned in the complaint represented the seller's gross merchandise sales across all its listings, not just the disputed ones, the company said.

The CCPA's order serves as a reminder to e-commerce platforms that they cannot distance themselves from misleading content sold through their marketplaces. The fine, although modest, underscores the need for platforms to verify claims made by third-party sellers, especially when those claims touch upon religious or cultural sentiments.