India's FSSAI starts penal action against Amazon, Flipkart, Swiggy Instamart, Bigbasket and Zepto

India's food regulator has started penal proceedings against five online grocery and quick-commerce platforms, saying products sold on their marketplaces breach labelling and food-safety rules.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) said in a social media post on Wednesday that it had initiated penal action against Amazon, Flipkart India, Swiggy Instamart, Bigbasket and Zepto. The regulator cited misbranding and misleading claims, along with the sale and display of prohibited or poisonous food articles through e-commerce platforms. The action was initiated under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and applicable FSSAI regulations, it said. The regulator did not disclose what penalties the companies face.

What the regulator flagged

A single product — Happilo Premium Date Bites, Zesty Orange — drew action against all five platforms, which FSSAI marked for misleading or non-compliant claims. Amazon Seller Services, Swiggy Instamart and Bigbasket were separately found non-compliant over the online sale, display and offer for sale of Datura (Dhatura) fruits and seeds. Swiggy Instamart and Bigbasket also face action over three Milky Mist dairy products — Fresh Low Fat Cream, Farm Fresh Curd and Greek Yoghurt — flagged for misleading claims and non-compliant product information. Queries sent to the platforms did not elicit a response, the Economic Times reported.

Pressure on quick commerce

The move extends six months of stepped-up enforcement against food businesses and online platforms. In August, the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration suspended licences of 14 food business establishments linked to Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy Instamart after inspecting 86 dark stores, while Karnataka's food safety department sealed a Zepto warehouse in Hoskote, near Bengaluru.

The scrutiny has grown alongside rapid dark-store expansion: as of June 2026, Blinkit ran 2,443 active dark stores across 300 cities and Swiggy Instamart 1,171 across 131 cities, while Zepto reported 1,139 dark stores across 66 cities at the end of March 2026. Days before the e-commerce action, FSSAI said it had filed three adjudication cases against Nestle India over an infant formula sample that failed a quality test and two products promoted in breach of the rules for infant nutrition.