Delhi Police have filed a case against BlinkIt, the online grocery app, for selling button lock knives, a folding pocket knife that’s been linked to murders in the city.
BlinkIt Controversy: Illegal Button Knives Sold via App
The trouble started when suspects in two separate West Delhi murder cases admitted they’d bought their knives through BlinkIt.
Digging deeper, police discovered both murder weapons had come straight from the app. To confirm, officers actually ordered the same knife themselves. Sure enough, it arrived.
Here’s where things get sticky: Indian law says you can sell knives online only if the blade is no longer than 7.62 cm and no wider than 1.72 cm.
The knife BlinkIt sent was bigger, 8 cm long and 2.5 cm wide. That’s illegal under the Arms Act.
BlinkIt Faces Serious Charges in Delhi
After this, police raided several BlinkIt dark stores around Delhi and seized more than 55 illegal knives. Each one reportedly sold for Rs 699.
BlinkIt’s problems don’t stop there. Last month, the company faced a wave of criticism for its “10-minute delivery” promise. People worried the rush for speed put delivery partners in danger.
Then, two big workers’ unions IFAT and TGPWU called for protests in late December. They wanted better pay, more social security, and for companies to drop strict delivery time targets.
BlinkIt In Legal Trouble?
In January, the government stepped in. After Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya met with leaders from BlinkIt, Zomato, Swiggy, and Zepto, he told them to put delivery partner safety first and ditch the 10-minute delivery claims.
BlinkIt quietly changed its tagline. Instead of promising “10,000 plus products delivered in 10 minutes,” now they just say “30,000 plus products delivered at your doorstep.”
