Snapdeal in a soup, FDA orders FIR against founder Kunal Bahl

Maharashtra’ Food and Drug Administration has ordered an FIR against eCommerce giant Snapdeal founders Kunal Bahl and other directors for allegedly selling prescription based drugs on the website. The FDA had asked the company to furnish documents pertaining to the distribution and sale of drugs.

“As per the law, license is required to sell any kind of drugs and that too on the basis of prescription of a doctor,” said Harshadeep Kamble, Commissioner of Maharashtra FDA.

The FDA has also asked the company to provide them with details of the companies involved, invoices generated and other crucial documents.
It should be noted that the issue of alleged sale of drugs on the website came to light after the agency got a tip-off that Snapdeal was selling drugs online without the requisite license.

The FDA investigating officials then hired people to pose as customers and place orders for specific drugs. The company delivered one of the orders following which; the agency raided the company’s premises in Mumbai.

According to reports, at that time, the company had allegedly delisted the drugs from its website and was cooperating with the agency in their investigation. On contacting the company, the company spokersperson said that Snapdeal is an online marketplace that connects buyers and sellers to provide the widest assortment of products. “In this matter, we are assisting the FDA team in this investigation and we will continue to do so. We have already delisted the products and said sellers and also stopped payment, in addition to providing all information to the FDA team as required by them,” stated the company spokesperson.

The spokesperson added, “The sellers selling online are retailers and distributors, small and medium business and large brands who typically sell offline too. Snapdeal acts as an intermediary between the seller and buyer of the products listed on the platform. Though we invest significantly in educating sellers on engaging in fair and safe sales on the platform and consequences of selling inappropriate products, at times sellers end up listing such products. Upon being notified of any such products, we delist the products and take appropriate action against such seller.”