The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has registered a complaint with the Ministry of Consumer Affairs against a Flipkart advertisement featuring Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan, promoting the upcoming Big Billion Days sale.
CAIT deems the advertisement as “misleading” and detrimental to the interests of small retailers in the country. In its statement, CAIT has urged the withdrawal of the advertisement.
According to CAIT, the complaint submitted to the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) seeks the imposition of a penalty on Flipkart under the relevant provisions of the Consumer Protection Act for engaging in a “false or misleading advertisement.”
Additionally, CAIT proposes a Rs 10 lakh fine on Amitabh Bachchan.
CAIT’s Secretary General, Praveen Khandelwal, asserted in the complaint, “As per the definition under Section 2(47), Flipkart, acting through Amitabh Bachchan (endorser), have misled the public regarding the price at which mobile phones are being made available by sellers/suppliers in the smartphone market of India. This has the effect of disparaging the goods, services or trade of another person.”
He further emphasised that as per Rule 4 of the Guidelines for Prevention of Misleading Advertisements and Endorsements for Misleading Advertisements, 2022, the Flipkart advertisement “is misleading because it doesn’t contain truthful and honest representation and is wholly incorrect, malicious, misleading, and manipulative.”
Previously, CAIT criticised the advertisement featuring Amitabh Bachchan, where he promotes Flipkart’s Big Billion Day sale, specifically noting that mobile deals promoted by Flipkart would not be available offline at retail stores. The Big Billion Days sale is scheduled to occur from October 8-15.
