The Delhi High Court on Tuesday (20 September) slapped a fine of Rs 1 lakh on e-commerce major Amazon for allowing the sale of pressure cookers in violation of the required standards.

The HC directed Amazon to notify consumers of all 2,265 pressure cookers sold through its e-commerce platform that the pressure cookers do not conform to BIS standard.

It further directed the company to deposit the sum of Rs 1 lakh as the penalty amount before the Registrar General of the Court within one week.

The Consumer Protection Act, 2019 stipulates that goods or products which do not comply with standard which is required to be maintained by or under any law for the time being in force are liable to held defective.

As per the Domestic Pressure Cooker (Quality Control) Order, 2020, which came into force on 1 February 2021, all pressure cookers are required to mandatorily conform to standard - IS 2347:2017 and compulsorily use the standard mark for Domestic Pressure Cooker.

The high court was hearing a plea by Amazon challenging CCPA's August order imposing a penalty of Rs one lakh on the e-commerce giant for selling domestic pressure cookers that did not meet quality standards and directing the company to notify the consumers of all these 2,265 pressure cookers sold through its platform, recall the products, and reimburse the prices to buyers, reports Livemint.

Meanwhile, the Delhi HC also kept in abeyance the CCPA order asking Amazon to recall sold domestic pressure cookers that did not meet quality standards.

The HC listed the matter for further hearing on 16 November and asked CCPA to file its response to Amazon's petition.