Friday, May 31, 2013: Come July, 15 electronic and IT products—made in India or are imported—would have to meet the safety standards set by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) before they could be sold in the Indian markets. These products include set top boxes, laptops, tablets, notebooks, scanners, printers, plasma/LCD/LED televisions, optical disc players, microwave, etc.
Taking cognizance of the sub-standard electronic products filling the Indian market, the Department of Electronics and IT had introduced the notification about the BIS test for 15 categories of electronic and IT products. The implementation of the rule has to come in place starting July.
The specified products would not be allowed to sell in the Indian market in case they fail to meet the safety standards set by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). The safety standards will be applied to both domestically manufactured goods as well as imported goods.
According to a TOI report, a senior BIS official said, “Department of Electronics and Information Technology brought out this notification in the wake of sub-standard electronic products – mostly from China – flooding the Indian market.” The standards were introduced as the poor quality electronics goods were causing health issues and safety concerns, added the official.
It is worth mentioning here that the complaints against sub-standard products causing hazardous accidents were increasing of late. In a bid to control the sub-standard electronics products in the country, BIS designed a new set of ‘Indian Standards (IS)’ enlisting the norms for consumers’ safety and health. IS is different from the ISI marks.
The BIS notification to all electronic and IT goods manufacturers read, “No person shall by himself or through any person on his behalf manufacture or store for sale, import, sell or distribute goods, which do not conform to the specified standard and do not bear the words ‘self declaration’ – conforming to IS (relevant Indian Standards) on such goods after obtaining registration from the bureau.” The electronics and IT good manufacturers will have to get samples of these fifteen products tested at BIS accredited labs and get a safety clearance certificate. After that, the products would bear a self declaration from the company that they meet the safety criteria set by BIS,” said the official.
As reported earlier, the Electronics and Information Technology Goods (Requirements for Compulsory Registration) Order, 2012, notified by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) was expected to come in force on 3 April, 2013. The order specified 15 electronic and IT products in the first phase that should be mandatorily registered with BIS, and meet specified safety standards. These products include video games, laptops/notebooks/tablets, plasma/LCD/LED televisions, microwave ovens, printers, scanners, telephone answering machines, electronic musical systems, set-top boxes, wireless keyboards, etc.
The scheme also provides that the electronic goods of different sizes, ratings, varieties, etc, will be grouped and may be granted series approval for a set of products based on testing representative models. DeitY will approve such series of products. This will obviate the need for every single model of the same series to be registered.
DeitY and BIS will randomly select samples of registered electronic goods to ascertain whether these goods conform to the specified standards. Electronic goods have to be tested by BIS-approved testing laboratories. “As the date of implementation approaches, frenetic activity is seen for getting the products registered. DeitY is also gearing up to cater to the needs of the industry, and to ensure successful implementation of the order in time,” says Dr Ajay Kumar, joint secretary, DeitY.
Diksha P Gupta, EFYTIMES News Network
