The mandatory testing and certification are meant to check security flaws, especially in the imported devices and equipment
It would become impossible to sell smartwatches, smart cameras. trackers, smart electricity meters, base stations for telecom networks and more items in India without having a testing and approved certification from an accredited testing lab in the country. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has issued fresh guidelines informing that the mandate comes into effect from 1st July 2022.
“TEMA welcomes and compliments Phase III and IV of mandatory testing, which was our pending demand since 2010 and renewed in 2017 after Telegraph Rules were amended to legalise mandatory testing,” NK Goyal, chairman emeritus, said.
The new items have been added to the list of the mandatory testing and certification of telecom equipment (MTCTE) regime as part and parcel of the third phase of the same. The regime was announced when the government of India had amended the Indian Telegraph Rules.
The mandatory testing and certification are meant to check security flaws, especially in the imported devices and equipment. Though the government of the country had cleared the proposal for mandatory testing of telecom equipment in 2010 itself, the implementation had got delayed due to a variety of reasons which included non-compliance with some WTO rules. The same was answered and mandated with the amendment of the Telegraph Act in 2017.
Optical fibre, LAN switches, routers, satellite communications equipment, PoS devices and more will be brought under the same radar during the fourth phase of the regime. The central government has also been working on increasing the number of such labs in the country.
