Government’s dictat to all electronic and IT product manufacturers to get their products registered with the Bureau of Indian Standards could get difficult to implement anytime soon.
While the deadline to get the products registered is set for July 3, top official at BIS said that there are not enough laboratories to test all the products within that time.
The problem is that out of 140 labs certified by BIS to register product there are only nine where the listed electronic products can be registered.
Another extension
“If the registration processes get delayed, the companies can request Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) to extend the deadline and continue selling products in the market,” said a BIS official on conditions of anonymity.
He said DeitY may have to give another extension of deadline (for October) as it is not the companies’ fault. “If this process had been started 8-10 months back, there would not have such backlog. There was a need to harmonise all the concerned laboratories for testing such products as per the Government’s standards,” he said.
According to the Manufacturers’ Association for Information Technology (MAIT), there are around 1,500 products owned by 80 companies, which have been sent for testing, but only two products were registered under this scheme (LCD television of Sony India and printer of Samsung India).
But, according to the BIS official, there are only 25 applications from various companies in India for their products to be registered.
He said the process is on and it will take some time to pass all applications.
The Government had earlier issued the Compulsory Registration Order 2012, which made it mandatory for all electronic and IT products to be registered under the BIS by April 3. This was later extended to July 3.
Safety measures
The move was aimed at making sure that all products sold in the country meet the safety measures set by the Government, passed by BIS approved testing laboratories. Under this order, if any product is found to be substandard or defective under these norms, will be treated as scrap and disposed.
15 products
There are 15 electronic products under this list including video games, microwave ovens, laptops, tablet computers, LCD television, telephone answering machines, electronic music systems and printers.
According to J.V. Ramamurthy, President, MAIT, “It is a funnel, which is not clearing fast. There are not much clarity also as BIS is adding to the confusion and adding more components to be tested such as electric cord for a laptop.”
Various Government projects such as distribution of subsidised or free laptops to students, e-governance and public distribution systems may get delayed because many IT products are involved in such products, he added.