Amazon, Flipkart asked to pull fake beauty products from websites in India: Report

• An investigation by the Drug Controller General of India (DGCI) e-commerce giants Amazon and Flipkart were allegedly found to be selling ‘adulterated’ and ‘unregulated’ beauty products on their websites, according to a Mint report.
  
• The DGCI has asked online retailers to stop such sales. The retailers have reportedly committed to removing these products.
  
• Cosmetics worth ₹40 million were confiscated from around the country during the investigation.

E-commerce giants Amazon and Flipkart were recently served notices from India’s drug regulator Drug Controller General of India (DGCI) for allegedly selling certain fake cosmetics, Mint reported.

The online retailers have reportedly said that they will stop the sale of adulterated products in question on their websites sold by certain sellers, according to the Mint report. Cosmetics worth ₹40 million were confiscated from around the country during the investigation, it added.

In the last three years, online retailers Snapdeal and Shopclues have also faced similar issues and were asked to pull off products from their platforms.

The beauty products in question include serums, skin-whitening creams, and stem-cell based cosmetics that fall l under the illegal imports category with some products containing ingredients unfit for human use.

As per another study highlighting the problem of fake cosmetics, one out of every five products sold online is fake. About 35% of the online consumers reported receiving fake products under the cosmetics category in the span of six months, according to poll results.

Spokespeople at Amazon and Flipkart could not be reached for comment.