Centre Seizes Over 18,000 Toys From Hamleys, Archies And Other Stores For Lack Of BIS Quality Mark

The government has said that 18,600 toys have been seized in the last one month from major retail stores, including those of Hamleys and Archies at airports and malls across the country, for lack of BIS quality mark.

Meanwhile, consumer protection regulator CCPA has also issued notices to three major e-commerce players - Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal - for alleged violation of toys quality control order, it said.

Since 1 January 2021, the government made it mandatory for toys to conform with safety norms specified by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).

BIS is the national standard body of India established under the BIS Act 2016 and is responsible for standardisation, marking and quality certification of goods.

“We received complaints from domestic manufacturers of sale of toys that do not conform with the BIS standard. We conducted 44 raids in last one month and seized 18,600 toys from major retail stores," BIS Director General Pramod Kumar Tiwari said in a press conference.

The raids were conducted at retail stores, including those of Hamleys, Archies, WH Smith, Kids Zone and Cococart located at major airports and malls across the country, he said.

A legal action will be taken against retailers as per the provisions under the BIS Act, Tiwari said.

Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) chief Nidhi Khare said, “We have also issued notices to Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal for selling toys without BIS quality mark."

In 2020, the Commerce Ministry had issued the Toys (Quality Control) Order, 2020, making it mandatory for toys for children of 14 years of age or younger to conform to seven Indian Standards for safety of toys and bear the ISI Mark under a licence from BIS.

This Quality control order came into force from 1 January 2021.

(With inputs from PTI)