Misleading LED bulb claims: CCPA hits Jaquar with ₹5 lakh penalty for false advertising

NEW DELHI: India’s top consumer watchdog has imposed a ₹5 lakh penalty on Jaquar and Company Pvt Ltd for publishing misleading advertisements claiming a “rated life of 50,000 hrs” for its 9W and 12W LED bulbs.

The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), in its order reviewed by Mint, said the company relied on test reports of a Chinese component manufacturer without substantiating the claim for the finished product sold in India.

It said Jaquar, a manufacturer of bathroom fittings, sanitaryware, wellness products and lighting solutions, prominently advertised the 50,000-hour lifespan on the product packaging and on e-commerce platforms, creating the impression that the assembled LED bulb would last that long under regular usage conditions.

However, during the proceedings, the company admitted that the figure was not based on the testing of the lamp assembled and marketed under its own brand. The figure was based on reports issued to China-based LED chip manufacturer Jiangxi Changfang Semiconductor Technology Co Ltd on tests of how long its LED chip maintains its brightness under controlled conditions and on the expected lifespan of the LED chip.

Queries sent on Monday to the consumer affairs ministry and Jaquar related to the CCPA’s decision remained unanswered till press time.

The CCPA noted that the reports pertained only to LED chip components tested under controlled laboratory conditions in China and did not establish the lifespan, endurance or performance of the finished LED bulbs sold to Indian consumers.

“Jaquar failed to provide traceability evidence linking the tested LED chips to the final products offered in the Indian market,” the CCPA said in its order.

The authority pointed out that no laboratory test reports recognized by the Bureau of Indian Standards were furnished to demonstrate conformity of the finished product with mandatory Indian standards on the safety and performance requirements for LED lamps.

While Jaquar argued that the “50,000 hours” figure was an engineering estimate referring only to the LED chip and not a warranty promise, the CCPA held that the advertisement did not prominently disclose this limitation. From the standpoint of an average consumer, the claim would reasonably be understood as applying to the entire product, it said.

The regulator also noted that the claim continued to appear on certain e-commerce platforms even after the company stated it had removed it from packaging. The CCPA directed Jaquar to discontinue the misleading advertisements immediately, prominently disclose all information related to performance claims, pay a penalty of ₹5 lakh, and submit a compliance report within 15 days.

“This order sends a clear message that technical jargon cannot be used to mislead consumers. When a company prominently advertises ‘50,000 hours’ on a product, the average buyer will reasonably believe that the entire bulb will last that long,” said Ashim Sanyal, chief executive officer of Consumer Voice, a consumer rights advocacy group. “We welcome the CCPA’s action as it reinforces the principle that performance claims must be transparent, substantiated at the product level, and presented in a manner that an ordinary consumer can understand.”

The CCPA order did not state whether this practice is common across the industry. In general, as per an industry executive, companies manufacturing or importing LED lighting products for sale in India are required to comply with BIS norms, which involves product-level testing at recognized laboratories in India and certification under the Compulsory Registration Scheme.

Some manufacturers may use overseas component-level test data for internal design validation and not for substantiating claims about finished products sold to consumers, an executive said.