CCPA slaps Rs 2 lakh fine on FirstCry for misleading ads, unfair trade practices
Penalty imposed after probe finds consumers misled on discounts as GST was added separately despite ‘all taxes included’ claims.
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The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has imposed a penalty of Rs 2 lakh on Digital Age Retail, operator of leading e-commerce platform FirstCry.com, for misleading advertisements and unfair trade practices.
According to an official statement on September 26, the CCPA has "imposed a penalty of ₹2,00,000 on Digital Age Retail Pvt Ltd (FirstCry) for false and misleading price representations."
The order has been passed under Sections 10, 20 and 21 of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, it added.
The action follows a consumer complaint that FirstCry displayed products with the claim “MRP inclusive of all taxes,” but levied additional GST on the discounted price at checkout- reducing the actual benefit to buyers.
An investigation, backed by National Consumer Helpline (NCH) data, found that discounts advertised as 27% effectively dropped to just 18.2% after GST was added.
The CCPA found such practices as deceptive pricing, misleading advertisements under Section 2(28), and unfair trade practices under Section 2(47) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
"It was observed that disclaimers such as "additional charges may apply" or "GST and Add'l charges may apply on discounted price" did not override the statutory requirement that the MRP must be inclusive of all taxes," the statement said.
After CCPA’s intervention, FirstCry has updated its platform to ensure that the final discounted price displayed includes all taxes, with clear disclaimers across its website and app.
Meanwhile, shares of Brainbees Solutions, FirstCry’s parent company, closed 4.1% lower at ₹362.7 on the BSE on September 26.
