US-based athletic footwear brand Skechers has taken India's top online marketplace Flipkart to court after it was revealed that some third party sellers were selling counterfeit products of its brand online.

Earlier police had conducted raids at seven warehouses in Delhi and Ahmedabad to recover fake merchandise from sellers Retail Net, Tech Connect, Unichem Logistics and Marco Wagon who are accused of selling these counterfeit items.

Skechers has found that these sellers have so far sold 15,000 pairs of fake shoes on Flipkart claiming to be original Skechers footwear. More raids are expected in other cities in the coming days.

A Flipkart spokesperson told The Economic Times that the company only act as an intermediary between customers and sellers.

“Flipkart is an online marketplace, an intermediary, that helps sellers connect with customers across the country. As a responsible company however, we have a robust system of checks and controls to detect and weed out fake products. Flipkart observes a zero tolerance policy on incidents where sellers are found violating customer trust and quality guidelines. We conduct our business with the highest standards of integrity and are fully compliant with all rules of the land,” said Flipkart spokesperson.

AFP

This is not the first time Indian e-commerce websites have come under the scanner for selling fake products.

Earlier, brands like Tommy Hilfiger, Lacoste, Calvin Klein, Levi's and Superdry, over the past three years, have helped confiscate thousands of fake apparels through court-aided raids on warehouses.