Consumer board: Amazon seller Cloudtail’s pressure cookers violate safety norms

New Delhi: Keeping the safety of consumers in mind, the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) has recently dismissed an appeal filed by Cloudtail India Private Limited challenging the order passed by the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) with regards to sale of domestic pressure cookers to consumers in violation of mandatory Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) norms.

In its order, the CCPA had directed the company to recall the 1,033 units of domestic pressure cookers sold by it to consumers and reimburse the prices of the recalled pressure cookers to consumers apart from submitting a compliance report within 45 days. The company was also directed to pay a penalty of Rs one lakh for the sale of these pressure cookers in violation of Quality Control Orders (QCO) and violating the rights of consumers.

Cloudtail India Pvt. Ltd. is the seller of a pressure cooker called ‘Amazon Basics Stainless Steel Outer Lid Pressure Cooker, 4L’ (it does not give pressure alerts by whistle). The pressure cooker was being offered for sale to consumers on the Amazon e-commerce platform.

As per the QCO, which came into force on February 1, 2021, domestic pressure cookers are mandated to conform to Indian Standard (IS) 2347: 2017 and bear the standard mark under a license from the BIS as per Scheme-I of Schedule II of Bureau of Indian Standard (Conformity Assessment) Regulations, 2018.

Pertinently, domestic pressure cookers are among the most commonly used everyday items in households and are present in the immediate vicinity of family members. Therefore, a domestic pressure cooker, which violates the mandatory requirements of the QCO can prove to be extremely fatal and dangerous for the life and safety of consumers and the public at large.

In the present case, Cloudtail was observed to be selling domestic pressure cookers to consumers without conforming to the prescribed mandatory standards and without the standard (ISI) mark under the license from the BIS. The non-certified pressure cooker was being sold by Cloudtail to consumers in India even after the QCO came into force.

In its reply to CCPA, Cloudtail stated that after the QCO came into force, it had suspended the import of pressure cookers. However, it was observed by CCPA that though the import was suspended, the company had not stopped the sale of such pressure cookers to consumers. In fact, the submission of the reply indicated that despite being aware of the QCO, the company was still selling such pressure cookers to consumers.

The order passed by CCPA was challenged by Cloudtail in its appeal before the NCDRC. The appeal was dismissed by the NCDRC on Wednesday.