Why it is illegal to sale electronic products without BIS certification in Indian market?
What can be a BIS certificate? Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)) is a national body that operates a product certification scheme to maintain the quality, safety, and reliability of products in India. A primary mission of BIS is the accurate, consistent, and timely evaluation and processing of licenses for proposed exports and re-exports of goods and technology from the United States.
BIS Certification is voluntary; however, the Government of India has made BIS certification mandatory for certain products taking into consideration public health. Overseas Manufacturers are required to have a local representative in India who will represent the manufacturer locally and will be responsible for placing the product in the market. The BIS certification is not a uniform standard or directive that applies to all products.
BIS Compulsory Registration Scheme (CRS) was initially presented by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) along with the Bureau of Indian Standards, in the year 2012. The scheme then covered 15 products in 2014. Under this strategy, manufacturers must obtain their products registered before launching them in the Indian grocery store.
Products under this scheme:
Laptop/Notebook/tablet, Plasma/LED/LCD TV (min 32"), Microwave oven, Printers/plotters, Scanners, Set-Top Box, Visual Display Units / Video Monitors (min. 32"), Electronic Games, Optical disk players, Wireless Keyboards, Telephone answering machine, Electronic musical system (min 200W), Mains Powered electronic clocks, Amplifiers (min 2000W), Automatic data processing machines, Power adapter for IT, Power adapter for AV, Self-ballasted LED lamps, LED Control gear, Mobile Phones, POS, Cash register, Copying machine, Smart Card readers, Mail processing machines, Passport readers, Power banks, UPS/Inverter (max. 5kVA) and Fixed LED Luminaires (general purpose) and Sealed secondary cell/batteries for portable devices.
Why is it required?
Though the BIS product certification services scheme is essentially voluntary, the Government of India, in public interest (for example public health and safety, security, infrastructure demands, stack use of goods and services) has enforced mandatory certification on several products through various Quality Control Orders issued from time to time under several Acts.
While BIS continues to award licenses on the diligence, the enforcement of compulsory certification is performed by the authorities notified in such quality control orders. The list of items under mandatory certification, in concert with the corresponding Indian Standard Number, and the agencies responsible for enforcing the orders need to be known for the individual employed in manufacture, store, sell or disseminate these products except under the Bureau of Indian Standards Certification Mark.
Procedures for License:
Normal Procedure — In this procedure, the grant of license is considered provided the preliminary inspection is found to be satisfactory, samples drawn during this inspection are found to be conforming and the applicant agrees to implement the defined scheme of testing and inspection and pay the prescribed marking fee. A Preliminary inspection of the unit is taken out by BIS on a mutually agreed date, within 15 days of recording of application to check and measure the firm’s manufacturing capability and controls, quality control techniques, availability of testing facilities and the technical accomplishments of the personnel during which samples of products are tested in the factory laboratory and also made for testing in labs specified for the merchandise. The license is granted to the applicant for the varieties of the product covered under a given Indian Standard, if he has the capability to manufacture and test the product at the specified location and the sample drawn for testing in an independent laboratory conforms to the relevant Indian Standard. The applicant is also asked to agree to operate the prescribed Scheme of Testing and Inspection (STI) and pay the Marking Fee during the course of operation of the permit.
Simplified Procedure — In this procedure, the applicant is required to submit a test report(s) from specified laboratories along with the application. Grant of the license is considered provided the verification visit is found to be satisfactory and the applicant agrees to implement the defined scheme of testing and inspection and pay the prescribed marking fee. Sample(s) is (are) drawn during the verification visit for independent testing, but the conformity of this sample does not form a pre-condition for grant of license. Nevertheless, the exam result is used for inspection purposes.
The simplified process is applicable for GOL for all the products except for the chase:
Products such as cylinders, valves, regulators, cement, etc., Where a joint inspection or approval is required from another statutory authority;
Products for which license is granted on the basis of factory testing; and
Packaged Drinking Water (PDW) and Packaged Natural Mineral Water (PNMW)
Under separate arrangements with statutory agencies, some products have been put under special certification schemes of a mass or batch inspection carried out by BIS inspecting officers. A majority of Gas cylinders, regulators and valves are certified through such systems.
BIS Certification | BIS Registration
