KVIC forces Flipkart, Amazon and Snapdeal to remove 160 fake Khadi products online

The development comes in wake of KVIC serving legal notices to over 1,000 firms using the brand name `Khadi India’ to sell their products and thus causing damage to its reputation and loss of work to Khadi artisans, KVIC stated in a release today.

Further, after KVIC served legal notice, Khadi Global has also discontinued using its website www.khadiglobalstore.com and also removed its social media pages on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and have sought 10 days time to remove all such contents and product using the brand name “Khadi”. 

KVIC action has resulted in shutting down a number of stores across the country that were selling fake Khadi products.

These e-commerce portals were selling products like Khadi masks, herbals soaps, shampoos, cosmetics, herbal mehandi, jackets, kurta and many such products through different sellers using the brand name `Khadi’. This created a false impression among online buyers that these commodities were genuine `Khadi’ products. KVIC also stated that a majority of the products that have been removed were being sold by one Ayush E-Traders. This firm has confirmed to KVIC that it has removed 140 links for various products that were being sold as `Vagad’s Khadi Products’.

It further stated that there has been a steep rise in violation of Khadi trademark as the popularity of Khadi grew manifold in recent years after the prime minister’s appeal to buy Khadi products. Exploiting this opportunity, a number of online sellers began selling random products in the name of Khadi. Also, hundreds of stores mushroomed in different cities that were selling fake Khadi products. In recent months, particularly during the Covid-19 lockdown, there was a huge proliferation of such fraudulent online sellers. However, to enable online customers to buy genuine Khadi products, KVIC has launched its e-portal selling a range of 300 products online at www.kviconline.gov.in/khadimask.

KVIC chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena said the commission has given violators the option of either stop selling products in the name of Khadi or face legal action for recovery of damages. “Legal notices have been issued to various firms essentially to safeguard the interest of Khadi artisans. This trademark violation has a direct bearing on the livelihood of our artisans who are making genuine handcrafted products,” Saxena said.

KVIC, he said, has put in place a robust online enforcement plan for effective monitoring of `Khadi India’ trademark rights. It has employed a dedicated legal team, a mix of human and technological tools to ensure a systematic and continuous monitoring and takedown of unauthorised products being sold in the name of Khadi.

KVIC is also educating all registered Khadi Institutions  engaged in manufacturing Khadi products that simply their registration with KVIC  did not authorise them to re-authorise any one to use `Khadi’ trademarks or `Khadi India’ logo unless that firm or company obtains proper licence from KVIC for the same. 

Last month, KVIC had issued legal notices to two firms Khadi Essentials and Khadi Global for unauthorisedly selling cosmetics and other products in the name of Khadi. The statement added that KVIC has also sought damages to the tune of Rs500 crore from Fabindia, which is pending before the Mumbai High Court.