Traders' Body Calls For Rs 10 Lakh Fine Against Amitabh Bachchan Over 'Misleading' Flipkart Ad

CAIT said Flipkart's Big Billion Days sale ad featuring Amitabh Bachchan is making a "misleading and frivolous claim that deals and discounts on mobile phones are not available in offline stores"

Trader' body Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has lodged a formal complaint against e-commerce giant Flipkart and superstar Amitabh Bachchan for misleading advertisements on smartphones. The complaint has been filed with the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs against an advertisement promoting Flipkart's upcoming Big Billion Days sale in 2023.

CAIT claims that Flipkart's Big Billion Days sale ad featuring Amitabh Bachchan is making a "misleading and frivolous claim that deals and discounts on mobile phones are not available in offline stores and are only available on Flipkart."

Praveen Khandelwal, the General Secretary of CAIT, tweeted that CAIT has filed a complaint with CCPA against Flipkart and Amitabh Bachchan.

The trader's body said that they had written a letter to Amitabh Bachchan on September 29, 2023 expressing "anguish to him and have informed him that this advertisement is not only misleading and false but also that the advertisement has not gone down well with India's retailers, who have proved to be the backbone of the Indian economy for decades."

"We are writing to your good office to seek immediate and urgent intervention to suspend the advertisement and punish both Flipkart and Mr. Bachchan for violation of the Consumer Protection Act (CPA), 2020," said CAIT in a letter to Nidhi Khare, CCPA Chairperson. 

"This advertisement by Amitabh is unethical because it is false, distorts competition by tilting the consumer in favor of Flipkart by misinforming them and manipulates consumer choice by foreclosing their options to reach out to physical retailers to buy mobile phones amongst other things," the letter further said. 

The Flipkart Big Billion Days Sale 2023 will commence on October 8 and conclude on October 15.

CAIT has asked CCPA to pass directions to Flipkart to immediately suspend this advertisement so that it doesn't cause any more damage to India's offline retailers, penalise Flipkart, as per section 89 of the CPA, for false or misleading advertisement, and penalise Amitabh Bachchan with a fine of Rs 10 Lakh as per section 89 of the Act.