BIS Registration on 15 Electronic Products Must - DeitY Issues IT Order

The Department of Electronics and IT (DeitY) has issued the Electronics and Information Technology Goods (Requirements for Compulsory Registration) Order, 2012, bringing into force a scheme for the mandatory registration of 15 electronic products so that these products meet specified safety standards.

A press release from the Ministry on Tuesday evening said that the electronics products identified by the department include video games, laptop/notebook/tablet, plasma/LCD/LED televisions, microwave ovens, printers and scanners, telephone answering machines and electronic musical systems.

As against licensing, the scheme provides for self-registration of specified electronic goods. The scheme provides that no person shall by himself or through any person on his behalf manufacture or store for sale, import, sell or distribute specified electronic goods which do not conform to the specified standard and do not bear the words ''Self declaration – Conforming to IS (Relevant Indian Standard mentioned in column (3) of the Schedule) on such Goods after obtaining Registration from the BIS.''

Substandard or defective Goods which do not conform to the specified standard will be deformed beyond use by the manufacturer and disposed of as scrap. However, the order does not apply to electronic goods meant for export. The scheme also provides that the electronic goods having different sizes, ratings, varieties etc, such goods shall be grouped and may be granted series approval for a series of products based on testing of representative models. The DeitY will approve such series of products. This will obviate the need for every single model of the same series to be registered.

The scheme also provides for DeitY and the BIS to randomly select samples of registered electronic goods to ascertain whether these goods conform to the specified standard. The electronic goods have to be tested by a BIS approved testing laboratories. STQC has already initiated steps to get approval of its laboratories by BIS.

The order will come into effect after six months of its publication in the official Gazette. The said order has been issued under the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Rules and Act.