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Delivering world-class products of the highest standards

Before the Indian Standards Institution (ISI) came into the picture, the lack of standardization in local goods affected the Indian consumer. Developed countries dumped goods of uncertain quality and specifications and went scot-free owing to a lack of accountability. To arrest this issue, the ISI, followed by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), forced manufacturers to be more accountable. In October 2012, the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) stipulated that manufacturers be accountable for the products that they brought into the market. The Compulsory Registration Order (CRO) came to the fore, emphasizing:
  • Stopping other countries from dumping non-compliant products into the Indian market.
  • Ensuring that the Indian consumer had only high quality and world-class products.
  • Developing domestic products to international standards to enable competing in the global arena.
Manufacturers had to self-declare all products to prerequisite standards. The process of testing (only from BIS-recognized labs), validation, and registering of each product came into place. BIS revised its guidelines and mandated that every product had to have the amendment of IS13252:2010 (Information Technology Equipment Safety: General Requirement). Manufacturers registering their products for the first time can get their products validated as per the new amendment. Failing to do so would result in the cancellation of the product registration. Products with different models and colors will also have to be registered. Since the industry is still reeling under the implications of the BIS Registration requirement, both DeitY and BIS are continuously working with the stakeholders to refine the policies. Growing competition and evolving technology are pushing manufacturers to regularly ‘innovate’. However, the process of registration and self-declaration is proving costly. Moreover, stretched timelines increase costs and disrupt market strategy. Re-compliance and marketing the same product under different brand names further burdens timelines and costs.

The industry, as a whole, is appealing for a few amendments in the new mandate:

  • Create a factory ownership system where manufacturers can register multiple products and brands from multiple factories under a unique registration number.
  • Register only new products and not models of already registered products.
  • Conduct surveillance on a sampling basis rather than monitoring every single product, as this adds to the cost of compliance.
  • Be cognizant of the costs, timeframes, and product lifecycles.
  • Increase the infrastructural capacity of the existing NABL-accredited BIS-identified labs to speed the registration process.
  • Eliminate third-party agencies to certify the labeling and work with the factory declaration instead.
  • Simplify the renewal process by eliminating parameters like production quantity and value, of goods produced at the time of renewal.
  • Provision of an LOI in cases where there has been a delay of process in approving inclusion.
  • Bring out a smaller logo that international manufacturers have to adopt before they can export to the Indian market.

The industry and the government want to bring the best products to Indian consumers. However, for this to materialize they need to work in tandem.