MediaNama invites you to our online briefing call on “Trust in Ecommerce” on September 2, 2026.
To attend, register and then complete the payment to confirm your spot.
Title: Trust in Ecommerce
Date: September 2 (Wednesday), 2026
Time: 3:30 PM to 5 PM IST
Karnataka’s Food Safety and Drug Administration Department recently suspended the food licences of Amazon, BigBasket and Swiggy Instamart after finding poisonous Datura fruits and seeds listed for sale as food on the platforms. The department held the platforms themselves liable, not just the sellers supplying the products.
The action is one of several taken this year. FSSAI sent Blinkit repeated notices over spoiled food delivered through the app. It flagged 14 D2C brands for misleading claims in June 2026, and a MediaNama analysis found that most of the products were still being sold on Blinkit, Zepto and Instamart with the flagged claims intact. Maharashtra’s FDA suspended establishments linked to Blinkit, Zepto and Instamart. In December 2024, FSSAI directed ecommerce food business operators to display sellers’ licence numbers and stop listing sellers without valid credentials.
Each case raises a common question: Can consumers still trust what a platform sells when the signals meant to guarantee safety, such as seller ratings, verification badges and FSSAI licence numbers, keep appearing on unsafe or non-compliant goods? The answer turns on who is responsible when a purchase goes wrong: the seller or the marketplace. Platforms position themselves as neutral intermediaries hosting third-party sellers, a safe-harbour claim they make under the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000. Regulators, however, have moved to treat them as directly liable food business operators.
To discuss these developments and their implications for consumers, platforms and regulators, MediaNama invites you to attend a virtual briefing on “Trust in Ecommerce.”
In this briefing call we will examine:
- How do toxic or prohibited goods like Datura clear platform onboarding when a valid FSSAI number is required to list?
- When a listing carries a licence number, is the platform or the seller responsible for verifying it covers the product?
- At what point does a marketplace stop being a neutral intermediary and become a liable food business operator?
- What controls, such as listing removal, audits and penalties, do platforms actually run, and do they work at scale?
- Is enforcement keeping pace, or is it reactive and split across states, as recent FSSAI and state FDA actions suggest?
The session will begin at 3:30 PM IST with a presentation, followed by a Q&A session where attendees can ask questions and discuss the key issues.
In case you know someone who might be interested, please share this post with them.
Please register to participate by filling out the form here, then complete your payment to confirm your seat.
- Registration does not guarantee attendance. In case you fit our mandate for the intended audience, we’ll send you a confirmation before the event.
- Your contact information will never be shared with anyone outside of MediaNama.
