India’s consumer watchdog, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), has imposed penalties totalling Rs 44 lakh on major ecommerce platforms and sellers for facilitating the illegal sale of unauthorised walkie-talkies, citing violations of consumer protection and telecom regulations.
In its final orders against eight entities, the CCPA fined Amazon, Flipkart, Meesho and Meta Platforms Inc. (Facebook Marketplace) Rs 10 lakh each. Smaller penalties of Rs 1 lakh each were imposed on JioMart, Talk Pro, Chimiya and MaskMan Toys.
According to the authority, some platforms have already paid the penalties, while payments from others are pending.
The action follows a suo motu investigation that identified more than 16,900 non-compliant listings of walkie-talkies across ecommerce platforms, including Flipkart, Meesho, JioMart and Facebook Marketplace, along with several independent sellers and websites.
Five additional matters involving Antriksh Technologies, IndiaMART, TradeIndia.com, Vardaanmart and Krishna Mart remain under investigation or are at various stages of hearing.
The CCPA found that ecommerce platforms were facilitating the sale of Personal Mobile Radios (PMRs) operating outside the licence-exempt frequency band, without mandatory Equipment Type Approval (ETA) certification, and without clear disclosures on licensing requirements.
Several products were advertised as “licence-free”, “100% legal” or positioned as toys, despite operating on regulated ultra-high frequency (UHF) bands used by police, emergency services and disaster response agencies.
Under Indian regulations, only walkie-talkies operating strictly within the 446.0–446.2 MHz frequency band qualify for licence exemption. Even these devices require prior technical approval before import or sale. Rule 5 of the Use of Low Power and Very Low Power Short Range Radio Frequency Devices Rules, 2018 mandates that manufacturers and sellers obtain ETA certification before offering such devices in the market. Devices sold outside these conditions constitute misleading advertising and unfair trade practices under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, the authority said.
The investigation uncovered large-scale violations across platforms. On Flipkart, more than 65,900 units were sold where frequency details were either missing or fell outside the exempted range, while another 42,275 units disclosed compliant frequencies. Amazon recorded sales of 2,602 units between January 2023 and May 2025, with 467 listings lacking proper frequency or certification disclosures.
Meesho saw 2,209 units sold by a single seller, with several listings missing ETA or frequency information. JioMart sold 58 units over two years without clearly disclosing licensing requirements. Facebook Marketplace delisted 710 listings following CCPA intervention but was found to have allowed repeated re-listing of regulated devices without adequate safeguards.
In its orders, the CCPA rejected the argument by platforms that they function only as intermediaries and are not responsible for third-party listings. The authority held that platforms enabling listing, hosting, discovery and promotion of regulated products cannot be treated as passive conduits.
“Intermediary protections are conditional upon the exercise of effective due diligence and do not extend to situations where platforms permit products to be listed or advertised without mandatory statutory disclosures,” the authority said.
Consumer Affairs Secretary Nidhi Khare told PTI that penalties had been paid by Meesho, Meta, Chimiya, JioMart and Talk Pro, while payments from the remaining platforms were awaited.
The watchdog also flagged serious public safety and national security risks associated with unauthorised radio communication devices. Such equipment, it warned, can interfere with critical communication networks used by law enforcement agencies, disaster response authorities and emergency services, potentially disrupting essential operations.
To strengthen compliance, the CCPA has notified the Prevention and Regulation of Illegal Listing and Sale of Radio Equipment including Walkie-Talkies on E-Commerce Platforms Guidelines, 2025, in consultation with the Department of Telecommunications and the Ministry of Home Affairs. These guidelines mandate verification of frequency compliance and ETA certification before listing, full disclosure of licensing requirements, prohibition of misleading advertisements, and deployment of automated monitoring and takedown mechanisms.
The authority has also directed major ecommerce platforms to conduct self-audits, publish audit certificates online, and strengthen pre-listing compliance systems to ensure no radio equipment requiring statutory approval is sold without full legal compliance.
The penalties follow earlier enforcement actions. In May 2025, the CCPA issued notices to 13 ecommerce entities, including Amazon, Flipkart, Meesho, OLX, TradeIndia, Facebook and IndiaMART, after a preliminary analysis revealed hundreds of unauthorised listings. Union consumer affairs minister Pralhad Joshi had then warned that the sale of non-compliant wireless devices could pose “significant risks to national security operations”.
The CCPA reiterated that ecommerce platforms are required under the Consumer Protection (Ecommerce) Rules, 2020 to provide clear, pre-purchase information to enable informed consumer decision-making, particularly when dealing with regulated products.
