The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) of India has imposed a significant fine on Amazon Seller Services Private Limited for fraud related to the sale of goods under the guise of 'Ram Mandir prasad.'
The agency discovered that ordinary sweets were being sold on the e-commerce platform labeled as 'Ram Mandir prasad.' Furthermore, Amazon sellers were not obtaining any permissions from the Ram Mandir Trust.
There are numerous sellers online who claim to sell prasad from the Ayodhya Ram Mandir temple, using various claims to promote their products.
As a result of serious action by the CCPA, a penalty of 100,000 rupees was applied for selling ordinary sweets as authentic prasad from the Ayodhya Ram Mandir temple. The authority ordered the company to deposit this amount within 15 days.
The case involved sweets sold on Amazon under the name 'Shri Ram Mandir Ayodhya Prasad.' These products were supplied by 'Chandu Trading Company' under the brand name 'Bihari Brothers.' They included ghee laddus, hooi laddus, bundi laddus, and cow's milk peda.
Phrases such as 'blessing of God Ramandra' were used during the packaging and sale of these products, along with the inscription 'Shri Ram Mandir Ayodhya Prasad.' However, no official authorization was obtained from Shri Ram Janbhoomi Tirtha Kshetra Trust to sell these sweets.
The CCPA took a strict stance on this matter. According to the authority, when a product is labeled as prasad from the Ayodhya Ram Mandir temple, devotees may naturally consider it authentic temple prasad. Therefore, commercial use of the temple's name and associated terms without permission is considered a serious violation.
The authority noted that such trade could negatively affect the religious sentiments of a large number of consumers. These actions followed a complaint filed by the Confederation of All India Traders in January 2024.
The authority expanded the scope of its directives to ten major religious institutions in the country. Now, no goods can be listed on online platforms using words like 'prasad,' 'mahaprasad,' or 'god' on behalf of these institutions without their official permission.
These major religious institutions include Ram Janbhoomi, Tirupati Devasthanam, Mata Vaishno Devi, and Jagannath Mandir. The report also mentions Kashi Vishwanath Mandir.
This means that simply adding the temple's name to the product name or packaging when a seller creates an ordinary sweet or another product is insufficient; they must have confirmed licensing from the relevant religious organization.
The CCPA also emphasized an important point regarding Amazon's role. The authority stated that the company cannot absolve itself of responsibility by claiming it is merely an intermediary between the seller and the buyer. The online platform is obligated to provide clear information about such products sold on its territory. Furthermore, Amazon was directed to clearly display full information about sellers and customer service personnel on its platform.
