The ministry of electronics and information technology (Meity) is working on a plan to introduce stricter quality standards to prevent the sale of spurious electronic goods and block data breaches.
Minister of state for electronics and IT P.P. Chaudhary, earlier this month, held a meeting with officials to tighten provisions of Electronics and Information Technology Goods (Requirements for Compulsory Registration) Order, 2012 to consider including parts of the products themselves under the ambit of the compulsory registration order (CRO), one of the two people said on the condition of anonymity to an English daily.
The current rules focus on registration of products and do not prevent an importer from bringing in poor quality products (registered in CRO) in a completely knocked down or semi-knocked down (CKD/SKD) condition.
CRO is the first regulation in India in the electronics sector. It was notified in 2012 under the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Act. The regulation currently covers 43 categories of electronic goods, according to the first person.
There are three nodal authorities for implementation of CRO—Meity for registration and monitoring of compliance; BIS for action on non-compliant goods; and customs authorities for ensuring compliance of imported goods to CRO.
The government is in the process of evaluating existing customs procedures and provisions of BIS Act that are resulting in weaker compliance of the CRO.
The issues that are related to the customs department, as identified by Meity, include import of notified second-hand goods without registration and “units being imported in complete knockdown/ semi knocked down/separate consignments”.
By Baishakhi Dutta
