In pan-India raids, 18,500 toys seized for lack of BIS quality mark

The Centre on Wednesday said 18,600 toys had been seized in the last one month from major retail stores, including those of Hamleys and Archies at airports and malls across the country, for lack of Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) quality mark.

Meanwhile, consumer protection regulator Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has also issued notices to three major e-commerce players – Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal – for alleged violation of toys quality control order, it said.

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Since January 1, 2021, the government made it mandatory for toys to conform with safety norms specified by the BIS, a national standards setting body.

“We received complaints from domestic manufacturers of sale of toys that do not conform with the BIS standard. We conducted 44 raids in last one month and seized 18,600 toys from major retail stores,” BIS Director General Pramod Kumar Tiwari said in a press conference.

The raids were conducted at retail stores, including those of Hamleys, Archies, WH Smith, Kids Zone and Cococart located at major airports and malls across the country, he mentioned.

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A legal action will be taken against retailers as per the provisions under the BIS Act, Tiwari said.

CCPA chief Nidhi Khare said, “We have also issued notices to Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal for selling toys without BIS quality mark.”