The Union consumer affairs ministry on Friday, December 16, issued a notice to e-commerce giant Flipkart following the Delhi acid attack, wherein a teen was attacked with acid purchased from Flipkart.
Meanwhile, the Central Consumer Protection Authority, or CCPA, has asked Flipkart to submit a detained response along with necessary documents addressing the concern over the availability of acids on e-commerce platforms. The report has to be submitted within the next seven days. The CCPA, a department part of the consumer affairs ministry, has sent notices to Flipkart for “gross violations” relating to the sale of acid reported on their platform.
This comes days after an acid attack on a 17-year-old girl in Delhi using acid sold on an e-commerce site.
The CCPA, being the watchdog of consumer interests in India, has come across the sale of highly corrosive acids on these e-commerce platforms. The availability of hazardous acids in such an accessible manner can be dangerous and unsafe for consumers and the public at large.
The Ministry of Home Affairs issued an advisory on “measures to be taken to prevent acid attacks on people and for treatment and rehabilitation of survivors” on August 30, 2013, wherein all the states and UTs were advised to take immediate steps to implement the measures mentioned therein for reduction of acid attacks and treatment and rehabilitation of acid attack survivors, as well as any other measure as may be deemed fit.