E-commerce portals like Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal and others have been forced to  remove over 160 web links selling products in the brand name of “Khadi” after the Khadi and Village Industries Commission’s (KVIC) served  legal notices on over 1000 firms for misusing its brand name  to sell their products.

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. It has  sought 10-day time to remove all such contents and product using the brand name “Khadi”. KVIC action has also resulted in shutting down of 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. 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”.

There has been a steep rise in violation of Khadi trademark as the popularity of Khadi grew manifold in recent years after the Hon’ble 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 Shri Vinai Kumar Saxena said the KVIC has given violators the option of either stop selling products in the name of Khadi or legal action will be initiated for recovery of heavy 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.