Comments
A study conducted across 4 major Indian cities of New Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad has shown that 76% of LED bulb brands and 71% of LED downlighter brands across 200 electrical retail outlets were found to be non-compliant with consumer safety standards.
According to a study conducted by Nielson for Elcoma, these violate mandated norms for lighting products by the Bureau of Indian Standards and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India.
These spurious products pose a serious safety hazard for consumers besides causing significant loss in tax revenues for the government, as they are illegally manufactured and sold.
The findings from the key markets surveyed showed that 48% of LED bulb brands had no mention of manufacturer’s address and 31 per cent brands did not have a manufacturer’s name, showing that these brands violate Indian Legal Metrology regulations and are manufactured illegally.
In particular, Hyderabad does not fare well in terms of compliance with BIS norms.
As per ELCOMA (Electric Lamp and Component Manufacturers’ Association), the total LED Market in India is worth Rs 10,000 crore, with LED bulbs and downlighters constituting 50 per cent of overall LED market, being widely used across homes, offices and workspaces.
Rakesh Zutshi, President of ELCOMA and Managing Director, Halonix Technologies Private Limited, in a statement said “The large number of non-compliant manufacturers of LED bulbs and downlighters threaten fair competition in the LED lighting market, especially for those companies that are compliant to all mandatory consumer safety standards.”
Sumit Joshi, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Philips Lighting India, said, “As per an ELCOMA study, the Indian LED Lighting market has grown from Rs 500 crore in 2010 to Rs 10,000 crore today and constitutes over 45% of the overall Rs 22,000 crore lighting industry in India, comprising categories like GLS, FTL, CFL and other lamps.”
“LED lighting will constitute a majority share of the total lighting market in the next few years. Given this scenario, it is important for the government to act against these spurious and non-branded products for safeguarding consumer safety and protecting their revenues against these companies,” he added.
Sunil Sikka, Former President ELCOMA and Havells India Limited remarked, “The market share of spurious and non-compliant LED products is steadily increasing, much to the concern of compliant manufacturers in the country.”
Raju Bista, Vice President, ELCOMA and Managing Director of Surya Roshni Ltd, said these non-compliant products would also impact energy efficiency in the country.
The Indian Lighting industry has recommended a need for stronger enforcement for compliance with these safety standards prescribed and mandated by the Bureau of Indian Standards.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.