New Delhi, Jan 16 (UNI) The government has imposed monetary penalties on some leading online marketplaces for violation of consumer protection and telecom regulations, taking suo motu cognisance of the large-scale illegal listing and sale of walkie-talkies (Personal Mobile Radios PMRs) on e-commerce platforms.
The action by the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) follows identification of over 16,970 non-compliant walkie-talkie listings across platforms. Notices were issued to 13 e-commerce entities, including Amazon, Flipkart, Meesho, JioMart, Meta (Facebook Marketplace), Talk Pro, Chimiya, MaskMan Toys, India Mart, TradeIndia, Antriksh Technologies, Vardaanmart and Krishna Mart.
(The CCPA, set up under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, regulates matters relating to violation of rights of consumers, unfair trade practices and false or misleading advertisements which are prejudicial to the interests of consumers).
An official spokesman said the CCPA found that several platforms were facilitating the sale of walkie-talkies operating on restricted and sensitive radio frequency bands, without mandatory statutory approvals or disclosures. These devices were sold without informing consumers about the radio frequency range on which the device operates, whether the device requires a government licence, whether it has obtained Equipment Type Approval (ETA).
ETA is a mandatory technical approval issued by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to ensure that wireless devices are compliant, safe and permitted for use in India.
Many of these devices were found to operate in the Ultra High Frequency (UHF) band, which is a regulated spectrum also used by police, emergency services, disaster response agencies and other critical communication networks.
Several products were wrongly advertised as “license-free” or “100 percent legal,” even though their use requires government approval. In some cases, walkie-talkies were sold as toys but had very long communication ranges of up to 30 km.
In addition, many product listings did not clearly mention important details like operating frequency or whether the device had ETA, making it difficult for consumers to know if the product was legal to buy and use.
The CCPA has issued final orders in eight cases including Meesho, Meta Platforms Inc. (Facebook Marketplace), Flipkart Internet Private Limited and Amazon Seller Services Pvt. Ltd. while proceedings against Antriksh Technologies, India Mart, TradeIndia, Vardaanmart and Krishna Mart are at various stages of investigation or hearing.
