Karnataka suspends food licences of BigBasket, Amazon and Instamart over datura listings
Karnataka has suspended the food licences of BigBasket, Amazon and Swiggy Instamart after finding toxic datura listed for sale. The platforms must remove datura listings and promotions, with suspensions remaining in force until further orders.
What happened
Karnataka suspended food licences of BigBasket, Amazon and Swiggy Instamart after finding toxic datura listed for sale. The platforms must remove datura
Key facts
- 3 platforms
- 236 e-commerce warehouses inspected
- 44 proceedings initiated
- 14 dark-store licences suspended in Maharashtra
- 5 Blinkit licences
- 5 Zepto licences
- 2 Instamart licences
Why this matters
Any partnership or acquisition involving rapid-delivery platforms now warrants deeper diligence on food-safety controls, seller governance and jurisdiction-specific licensing exposure.
What to watch
- Official restoration, extension or expansion of the suspended food licences.
- Inspection notices or licence actions against other quick-commerce, grocery marketplace or hyperlocal delivery operators.
- FSSAI or state guidance defining prohibited toxic botanicals and platform due-diligence obligations.
- Evidence that datura was fulfilled from dark-store inventory versus third-party marketplace listings, which would determine the severity of operational-control implications.
- Wider delisting of herbs, seeds, plants, ayurvedic ingredients or pesticide-adjacent products.
- Changes in assortment availability, delivery coverage or promotional intensity in Karnataka.
- Immediately delist datura and adjacent high-risk botanical products across Karnataka, including seller-funded promotions and search results.
- Conduct SKU, seller and dark-store audits for toxic plants, medicinal herbs, unlicensed food items and products with ambiguous food-versus-ornamental classification.
- Submit remediation evidence to Karnataka food-safety authorities, including catalogue-control changes, inventory quarantine records and staff training.
- Shift compliance ownership from third-party sellers and local dark-store teams toward centralized marketplace governance and automated restricted-item controls.
- Prepare customer communications, refunds or order-cancellation protocols if regulators require stock recalls or wider removals.