Deceiving to sell:When you pick a product off a shop shelf, you turn it over and check one thing first: when was it made, and when does it die? On India's quick-commerce apps, that box is simply missing. No manufacturing date. No expiry. Tap, pay, delivered in ten minutes, and you have no idea what you're actually eating, swallowing or putting on your skin.

Times Now Digital has launched a campaign —"E-Comms Hiding Health Info"— to hold these platforms accountable for burying information you are legally entitled to see.

The pattern is hard to miss. Asten-minute deliveryexploded after Covid, the regulatory check at the door seems to have gone 'quick' too — quick to approve, quick to skip the basics. Missing manufacturing and expiry dates say exactly that. And the concern is no longer theoretical: cases are piling up across food, cosmetics and health products sold online.

We asked the biggest names in the business – Blinkit, Zepto, Swiggy Instamart, BigBasket, Amazon Now and Flipkart Minutes – a simple question: why are manufacturing and expiry dates not on your listings? Every one of them stayed silent. Blinkit and Amazon asked for 48 hours. We gave them another 48.

Legal experts addressing your biggest concerns

Still not a word, as of June 27.

But here's what the apps won't tell you: whether you shop in a store or on a screen, your rights don't shrink. Here's what the law actually gives you.

Q: Do these platforms even have a legal duty to show this information?

According to legal professionals, Indian consumer protection and product-labelling laws require online marketplaces to display essential product details that help buyers make informed decisions, particularly for food products, cosmetics, health supplements, and other goods carrying shelf-life declarations.

Varun Katiyar, Managing Partner at Consortium Legal, told Times Now Digital: "In the online marketplace, this responsibility becomes even more important because consumers cannot physically inspect products before buying them. Non-disclosure of such information can be viewed as a failure of transparency and may amount to an unfair trade practice or deficiency in service under consumer protection laws."

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