A police complaint has been filed by members of the Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam in Coimbatore against online retailer Amazon for allegedly fooling people in Tamil Nadu through their advertisement in newspapers for their Gold Contest.

Amazon had announced a contest to win 1KG Gold every day for 5 days starting October 13, all the customers had to do was shop for more than Rs. 299 on the Amazon app. One lucky customer would get 1KG Gold free everyday, according to the contest page. There was a catch, though. If you are from Tamil Nadu, you will not be eligible for the contest.

Members of TDPK, their police complaint and the Amazon rules online

While the print advertisement of the contest has the customary ‘Terms and Conditions Apply’ and directs readers to www.amazon.in/goldcontest for further details in fine print, the webpage clearly states that residents of Tamil Nadu are not eligible.

However, Ramakrishnan, General Secretary of the TDPK says that the print advertisement does not carry the disclaimer clearly and that people in Tamil Nadu will get fooled into the contest as they will not be able to win. Filing a complaint with the Coimbatore police, the TDPK has demanded that action be taken against Amazon for allegedly misleading customers.

Amazon has strongly denied the allegations stating that they are only doing what is required of them by law. In a statement to The News Minute, Amazon said, “The contest is prohibited in the state of Tamil Nadu under the Tamil Nadu Prize Schemes (Prohibition) Act, 1979 and hence, the residents of Tamil Nadu are not eligible to participate in the Contest.”

“But why are they not making it clear on the advertisement on the paper? Why give such an ad at all in Tamil Nadu?” asks Ramakrishnan.