Amazon India issued show cause notice for child labour

By

Maverick Martins

Published
Jan 6, 2017

E-commerce giant Amazon India has been issued a show cause notice by The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) following a customer's complaint about employment of children for door-to-door delivery.

In a detailed e-mail to NCPCR, the customer Sougat Ghosh wrote, "I had ordered Colgate toothpaste from Amazon on Dec 26, 2016. I saw two children come to my house to deliver the goods and one of them handed me the goods and was less than 15 years old. The other child was 6-8 years old and was carrying more consignments."

NCPCR has demanded an explanation from Amazon India within 7 days failing which it has warned of legal action according to a report by a media agency.

The e-commerce giant said that it was investigating this complaint and "will take appropriate action in case of any violation".
 
"Amazon has a strict employment policy and does not employ personnel below 18 years of age. We are investigating this complaint and will take appropriate action in case of any violation," an Amazon India spokesperson said.

Amazon delivers its products through third party as well as it has its own delivery service-- Amazon Transportation Services.
 
"Amazon will be held accountable even if this is a violation committed by an agency it outsourced its courier services to. It is the responsibility of the company to ensure that there is no child being illegally employed in its entire supply chain," said NCPCR Member on Child Labour, Yashwant Jain.

The new anti-child labour law prohibits the engagement of children under 14 in all occupations and those between 14 years to 18 years in hazardous occupations and processes.