CCPA asks e-tailers to set up mechanism to prevent unregulated sale of acid

Consumer protection regulator CCPA on Wednesday said it has directed e-tailers to immediately put in place appropriate mechanisms to prevent sale of 'acid' on their platforms.

The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), headed by Chief Commissioner Nidhi Khare, also alerted consumers against purchase of acid on e-commerce platforms without adhering to the mandatory requirements.

In a safety notice, CCPA said before on-boarding sellers of acid, e-commerce players should take a separate undertaking from them on compliance of mandatory norms.

CCPA said that enabling the purchase of acid in such a manner on the e-commerce platform is a clear violation to directions of the Supreme Court and the Ministry of Home Affairs advisory.

"As a result of this, the sale of corrosive acid is enabled by a mere click of a button. Such unverified manner of purchase can cause consumers and public at large to be left vulnerable, unprotected and unsafe, given that the product is capable of causing severe dermal corrosion," it noted.

The e-commerce players have been asked to mandate a requirement to upload a government-issued photo identity card to ensure that acid is not purchased by any individual below the age of 18 years on the e-commerce platform.

That apart, they have been asked to include a section during the purchase process where the buyer must provide specific reason/purpose to procure the acid, CCPA said in an official statement.

The safety notice has been issued taking in view the safety of consumers and public at large from such unregulated manner of sale of acid.

CCPA said it has come across the sale of highly corrosive acids on e-commerce platforms. Availability of hazardous acids in such a freewheeling and easily accessible manner can be dangerous and unsafe for consumers and to the public at large.

"It has been observed that neither there is any requirement to produce Photo ID issued by the government, nor there is any manner in which the purpose of buying the acid is recorded by the e-commerce platforms before placing an order," it said.

Further, there is no actual mechanism by which age verification of the buyer takes place before placing the order, it said.

It may be mentioned that the Supreme Court in the 2006 case of Laxmi vs. the Union of India had issued directions with respect to sale of acid and other corrosive substances.

Pursuant to the SC directives, the Ministry of Home Affairs had issued guidelines on August 30, 2013 to all states and Union Territories to take measures to prevent acid attacks on people.