Traders’ body CAIT has filed a complaint with the consumer affairs ministry against a Flipkart ad featuring Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan in the upcoming Big Billion Days sale, calling the ad “misleading”.
The traders’ body, in a strongly-worded letter, said Bachchan’s ad “impacts livelihoods” and “hurts local businesses” and will approach the Information and Broadcasting Ministry if the ad is not withdrawn.
CAIT demanded that Flipkart be penalized under the relevant provisions of the Consumer Protection Act for “false or misleading advertisement” and Amitabh Bachchan be fined ₹ 10 lakh.
An email sent to Flipkart did not elicit any response. Bachchan could not be reached for comment.
“As defined under Section 2(47), Flipkart, operating through Amitabh Bachchan (endorser), has misled the public about the price at which mobile phones are being made available by vendors/suppliers in the Indian smartphone market.
“It has the effect of insulting another person’s goods, services or trade,” CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said in the complaint.
He added that according to the guidelines for the prevention of misleading ads and the approval for misleading advertising, Rule 4 of 2022, Flipkart’s advertising is “misleading because it does not have a true and honest presentation and is completely wrong, malicious, misleading and manipulative.”
Last week, CAIT called out the ad promoting Flipkart’s upcoming Big Billion Day sale with Bachchan and telling consumers that the mobile deals will not be available offline at retail stores.
The Big Billion Days sale is scheduled to take place between October 8-15
