Amazon India, which has its headquarters in Bengaluru, has been served a notice by the Kannada Development Authority (KDA) for not implementing Kannada language rules in its daily work routine.
On Wednesday, KDA issued a notice to the e-commerce major and gave it 15 days to implement all the state rules as reported by Shrinivasa M in the Deccan Chronicle.
KDA is a state government body that works for the promotion of Kannada in the state.
As per sources, KDA has instructed Amazon to furnish details such as total workforce in its Bengaluru office, number of Kannada-speaking employees and steps taken by the company to implement Kannada in various departments, including customer service.
The KDA stated that Amazon employs lakhs of people but it has not implemented any measures to promote Kannada language within its administration.
“If any Kannada-speaking customer contacts the customer care representatives, they are told to speak either in English or Hindi,” the notice said.
As per the notice, authorities including the Department of Industries, Bengaluru Urban DC have been told to monitor the issue.
KDA Chairman Dr. L Hanumanthaiah confirmed that the notice was issued after complaints that Amazon was refusing to sell books in Kannada on its e-book reader Kindle.
“Amazon India is operating in this state and it is its responsibility to promote Kannada. Based on the complaints we received, we have issued the notice,” he said.