CCPA pulls up e-comm giants over walkie-talkie sales

The consumer regulator has issued notices to major e-commerce platforms including Amazon, Flipkart, Meesho, OLX, Facebook and IndiaMart for allowing the illegal sale of walkie-talkies operating in licensed frequency bands without mandatory regulatory disclosures.

- Dhirendra Kumar

The action by the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) comes as authorities grow increasingly alert to the potential misuse of unregulated wireless communication devices amid heightened India-Pakistan tensions.

The CCPA issued 13 notices, the consumer affairs ministry said on Friday. It pointed out that these platforms hosted hundreds of listings of walkie-talkies that had failed to disclose their operating frequency range, licensing obligations under the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 and Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1933, or certification details such as Equipment Type Approval (ETA) from the Wireless Planning and Coordination (WPC) Wing.