New Delhi, 02 September (H.S.): The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakh on e-commerce platform ‘Dial4Trade’ for listing ammonium nitrate online without the mandatory safety measures and verification of licences.

The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution said in a statement issued on Wednesday that the CCPA had taken stringent action after a case involving the online sale of explosive material came to light. The authority imposed a penalty of Rs 10 lakh on the e-commerce platform ‘Dial4Trade’ for allowing the online listing and sale of explosive substances without the necessary safety measures.

According to the ministry, the CCPA imposed a Rs 10 lakh penalty on Dial4Trade Technologies Private Limited for violations of consumer protection law and the Explosives Rules. The fine was imposed for facilitating the online listing and sale of ammonium nitrate without the requisite safety measures.

The authority said the company has been directed to immediately stop facilitating the listing, advertising and sale of ammonium nitrate and other regulated explosive substances on its online platform. During its investigation, the CCPA found that the platform neither displayed information regarding a valid Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) licence held by the seller nor had any mechanism in place to verify the buyer’s eligibility or monitor transactions.

The investigation report submitted by the Director General revealed that the company did not cooperate with the statutory authority during the initial inquiry and failed to provide the information sought from it. In its defence, the company described itself as a ‘B2B intermediary’, but the authority rejected this contention and directed the company to submit a compliance report within 15 days of the order.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar