Electronic products still being sold without safety certification

While the Government’s new rule to have mandatory certification for electronic products has come into effect from Friday, most of the retailers selling these products are unaware of the requirement.

Ranjeet (name changed), a salesperson in one of the leading information technology (IT) peripheral store at Nehru Place in Delhi, says that he is still selling electronic products without the certification from Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). “I am not aware of any safety regulations mandated by the Government. Buyers are also not asking for certifications on the products.”

Like Ranjeet, most of the other vendors visited by Business Line at the Asia’s largest IT peripheral market, are ignorant of the new rule. One of the salespersons said, “There is no such requirement. Somebody must have misguided you on such labels.”

The Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) had mandated that all imported electronic goods should comply with the BIS certification.

The intention is to regulate the flow of sub-standard electronic products into the country, some of which could pose safety hazards. The DeitY had asked manufacturers of these products including Samsung, Acer, Hewlett Packard and Dell to screen-print, emboss or engrave labels on products and packaging material.

But neither the Government nor the manufacturers have done much to create awareness among vendors and consumers. While the companies claim that the products and packaging already have the labels, Business Line found that there were no such certificates on the products sold in the market as of now.

Manufacturers blame the BIS, the certifying agency. “The BIS is still taking time to clear the pending requests for product certifications. This is delaying launch of new products in the market,” said a representative of a multinational brand.

The industry has been unhappy with the new regulations. For them this is another example of Government red tape.

“We are all global companies so such country specific standards should not apply. The question here is what is the Government’s objective in doing such things? Why trouble the industry?” Anwar Shirpurwala, Executive Director, Manufacturers Association for Information Technology (MAIT) said.

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