Last Updated on 22/11/2021 by Sanskriti
On Sunday, The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), a trade association, urged that the Central Government and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) prosecute Amazon for allegedly selling marijuana on their e-commerce platform. The CAIT also urged the Central Government to take action against Amazon for acting as a merchant, collecting money, posting it on their website, and earning a percentage on marijuana sales.
The CIAT said in a statement on 14th, “It is most shocking news for the traders and the people of India that Marijuana worth more than 1 crore of rupees was sold through Amazon e-commerce portal and in turn, Amazon got 66 percent commission. This sensational revelation was uncovered by Madhya Pradesh police.”
Moreover, Last Monday, the Madhya Pradesh Police claimed to have apprehended a drug trafficking ring that was transporting more than 1,000 kg of the illegal substance in Amazon-branded containers. The CAIT has requested Amit Shah, the Home Minister, and Shivraj Singh Chauhan, the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, to guarantee that the issue “should not go in the air,” and has labeled it a significant danger to national security. https://twitter.com/i/status/1459780451141177344
“Before registering a seller, Amazon ought to have done KYC to know about the genuineness and credibility of the seller. Further, Amazon ought not to have allowed the sale of illegal items like Marijuana,” in a statement, CAIT National President B. C. Bhartia and Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal remarked.
They further said, “We are at loss to understand that why a technology giant does not use its Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) to identify sale of illegal items while they continue to use these technologies to identify and copy the products of poor MSMEs and Indian Manufactures for creating their own private label products.”
The culprits were identified on Saturday, according to the Madhya Pradesh Police’s First Information Report (FIR), the FIR, on the other hand, makes no mention of Amazon’s participation in the case.
According to the Hindustan Times, Amazon was asked to explain how it would be able to check the vendors who allegedly conveyed the narcotic via its online platform. According to the complaint, the corporation did not reply to the police.
“Amazon operates a marketplace in India (amazon.in), which enables third-party sellers to display, list and offer for sale, products to end-customers directly. Amazon has a high bar on compliance and contractually our sellers are required to comply with all applicable laws for selling their products on amazon.in. We do not allow the listing and sale of products that are prohibited under law to be sold in India. However, in case of sellers list such products, as an intermediary, we take strict action as may be required under the law, when the same is highlighted to us. The issue was notified to us and we are currently investigating it whether there is any non-compliance on part of the seller. We assure full co-operation and support required to Investigating Authorities and Law Enforcement agencies with ongoing investigations and ensure full compliance to applicable laws.”
