Over 18,500 toys seized from Hamleys, Archies and other stores for lack of BIS quality mark: Govt

The government on Wednesday said 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.

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