Consumer disputes redressal commission dismisses appeal by pressure cooker maker Cloudtail against CCPA order

New Delhi, Aug 23 (IANS) The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) on Wednesday dismissed the appeal by Cloudtail India Pvt Ltd against an order passed by the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA).

CCPA had passed an order against Cloudtail for selling domestic pressure cookers to consumers in violation of mandatory Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) norms.

Directions had been passed by CCPA to recall and reimburse the prices of 1,033 such pressure cookers sold to consumers and submit a compliance report in 45 days

Cloudtail was also directed to pay penalty of Rs 1,00,000 for sale of pressure cookers in violation of Quality Control Order (QCO) and violating
the rights of consumers. 

Cloudtail India Pvt. Ltd. is the seller of pressure cooker namely “Amazon Basics Stainless Steel Outer Lid Pressure Cooker, 4 L (does not give
pressure alert by whistle)”. 

The pressure cooker was being offered for sale to consumers on Amazon e-commerce platform, official sources said.

As per the QCO, which came into force on February 1, 2021, domestic pressure cookers are mandated to conform to Indian Standard (IS) 2347: 2017 and bear the standard mark under a license from the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) as per Scheme-I of Schedule II of Bureau of Indian Standard (Conformity Assessment) Regulations, 2018.

Pertinently, domestic pressure cookers are among the most commonly used everyday items in households, and are present in the immediate vicinity of family members.

Therefore, a domestic pressure cooker, which violates the mandatory requirements of the QCO can prove to be extremely fatal and dangerous for
the life and safety of consumers and public at large. 

In the present case, Cloudtail was observed to be selling domestic pressure cookers to consumers without conforming to the prescribed mandatory
standards and without the standard (ISI) mark under the license from the BIS.

The non-certified pressure cooker was being sold by Cloudtail to consumers in India even after the QCO came into force, sources informed.

Cloudtail had submitted in its reply to CCPA that after the QCO came into force, it had suspended the import of the pressure cookers.

It was observed by CCPA that though import was suspended, the company had not stopped the sale of such pressure cookers to consumers.

In fact, this submission evidently indicated that despite being aware of the QCO, the company was still selling such pressure cookers to consumers
at large, they said.

The order passed by CCPA was challenged by Cloudtail in its appeal before the NCDRC.

The appeal was dismissed by the NCDRC on Wednesday.