BIS Certification Requirement for Safety Glass Postponed

The Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry postponed the introduction of the BIS certification requirement for safety glass until April 01, 2023. The ministry recently made the change official with issuing the new Safety Glass (Quality Control) Amendment Order 2022.

The original Safety Glass (Quality Control) Order of 2020 entrusted the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) with the implementation and monitoring of BIS certification for safety glass.

Originally, the certification was to be mandatory as early as September 2020. Since then, the ministry postponed the certification requirement several times. This time, the ministry has not given a specific reason for the new delay. In the past, they simply stated that the decision was made in close consultation with BIS and in the interest of the general public.

Manufacturers should check certification obligations for their components early, as there are two different certification schemes for these in India. Components either fall under BIS ISI certification, or the Automotive Safety Standards (AIS). Both certification schemes include their own requirements regarding factory audits, certification, and marking.

Sales of passenger cars in India to reach record levels in the first half of 2022

According to experts, India will reach a new record high in new car sales figures in the first six months of the current year 2022. Midsize and premium vehicles, in particular, contributed to this positive development, according to auto industry executives and consultants. Despite ongoing supply bottlenecks for certain components and a pending higher inflation rate, around 1.8 million passenger cars, SUVs and minivans were sold in the first half of the year. The figure surpasses the previous record set in 2018, when 1.7 million units were sold in the comparable period. With further pre-orders of between 750,000 and 800,000 units, automakers are positive about the remaining months of 2022. Cars and their components must be certified under AIS guidelines in India.

Kia India, represented by acting CEO Tae-Jin Park, told the Economic Times of India that his company expects demand for new cars to remain high in the coming months. He reasoned that many customers avoided major purchases during the pandemic but are now in a buying mood, Park said. Pre-orders at competitor Maruti Suzuki also total more than 300,000 vehicles. Sales of mid-range vehicles are on the upswing, while lower-priced cars are being bought more cautiously, according to a senior executive at a leading automaker who wished to remain anonymous. This statement is also consistent with figures from consulting firm JATO Dynamics, which found longer wait times for midsize vehicles and SUVs. In simplified terms, these range from 12 to 40 weeks for models such as the Tata Nexon, Mahindra Thar, Maruti Suzuki Ertiga and the Hyundai Creta. According to Ravi Bhatia, president of JATO Dynamics, the current vehicle inventory at dealers is about 146,000 units, not the usual 280,000 to 290,000 units. The Automobile Dealers Association is also noting higher demand. According to its president, Vinkesh Gulati, the waiting time for passenger cars currently averages three months. According to Gulati, numerous pre-orders and low cancellation figures point to perhaps the best year ever in terms of passenger car sales.

MPR International GmbH – India Certification will be pleased to assist you with AIS certification and is also available to answer any questions you may have.

Please do not hesitate to contact us for further details and consultation. You can contact us via e-mail, or call us (UK: +44 2071931135, Rest of Europe: +49 69 2713769261, US: +1 773 654-2673).

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You can also check out our free AIS-Brochure, which can be downloaded right here as a PDF file.

Indian telecom companies collaborate on 5G solutions

State-owned telecom research company C-Dot and private telecom equipment manufacturers VVDN Technologies and WiSig Networks signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly develop solutions for 5G technology. The collaboration for India’s 5G network will strengthen domestic infrastructure and create opportunities for exports, C-Dot Director Rajkumar Upadhyay said in a statement. The area of cooperation between the three companies includes increasing technical expertise and pooling research and development. By introducing products developed in the country, the consortium hopes to gain a cost advantage in 5G components and offer complete solutions. WPC certification is necessary for wireless products in order to be used and sold in India.

WiSig has been working on 5G technology development for five years and participated in consultations with 3GPP, TSDSI and ITU to standardize the high-speed wireless network in India, according to WiSig Networks founder Kiran Kuchi. VVDN is an expert in what is known as ORU (Open Radio Unit) design, which integrates locally developed hardware and software. By cooperating with WiSig and C-Dot, VVDN CEO Puneet Agarwal hopes to give India some autonomy in telecom equipment.

The WPC (Wireless Planning & Coordination) is the national broadcasting authority in India and is part of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. It was established in 1952 and is headquartered in New Delhi, with additional regional offices in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Guwahati. The WPC’s main tasks are to issue amateur radio licenses and to allocate and monitor the frequency spectrum. In addition, the WPC is responsible for WPC ETA certification (WPC Equipment Type Approval ETA) and other radio approvals. For foreign manufacturers, only the WPC ETA Approval is relevant in most cases. The WPC certification is used synonymously for the ETA (Equipment Type Approval) abroad.

The national broadcasting authority WPC (Wireless Planning & Coordination) is responsible for this certification, in order to regulate the issuing of issuing of amateur radio licenses and the allocation and monitoring of the frequency spectrum.

If you are interested in understanding what requirements are needed for your product to be imported into India, please do not hesitate to contact us by email or phone (Europe: +49-69-271 37 69 261, US: +1 773 654-2673). There is no cost or obligation for us to check for you. If a certification need is discovered we can provide a quotation to make sure that all your certification needs are covered.
For more information about WPC certification, please refer to our free brochure “WPC Certification Made Easy“.

BIS took action against three water bottlers in Pune who were illegally using the ISI quality mark

Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) staff took legal action against three water bottling plants in Pune that placed the ISI seal of approval on their products without proper certification. This followed unannounced inspections by BIS of numerous water bottling plants in and around Pune. BIS employees found three companies bottling drinking water without the appropriate license. A large number of 20-liter containers as well as 1-liter and 500-ml bottles, which also bore an illegal ISI seal of approval, were seized.

The head of the BIS office in Pune, Sanjay Kumar, told Hindustan Time that the accused companies are being prosecuted for violating the BIS Act of 2016. Further, samples were seized from the production premises and the companies were shut down. Navindra Gautam, also of BIS Pune, said the license of all three companies had expired and renewal cost the equivalent of $1,250. A sum Gautam said many companies save and instead continue producing without a license. A BIS license for drinking water bottlers is issued only after inspection of the production facility and laboratory tests and health checks of employees. According to Gautam, consuming non-certified drinking water can be dangerous and lead to health problems.

According to BIS staff, illegal water bottlers often operate as criminal networks and on the outskirts of cities where inspections are rare. Another tactic, they say, is illegally affixing the ISI seal of approval to containers or bottles to fool consumers into believing they are of a certain quality. According to BIS, every consumer water bottle must bear the ISI seal of approval and have been certified by BIS. In the Pune city area, there are only 170 BIS-certified water bottlers. The BIS advises the population to pay attention to the quality seal and to avoid illegally bottled drinking water.

A large number of different products require BIS certification in order to be imported into India or placed on the market. Depending on the product, a distinction is made between BIS-ISI or BIS-CRS certification.
Since 2012, the BIS has been gradually expanding the certification catalog and continuously adding additional goods. BIS certification mandatory for many electronic products for industrial and consumer uses. Factory inspections are also required for some products.

If you are interested in understanding what requirements are needed for your product to be imported into India, please do not hesitate to contact us by email or phone (Europe: +49-69-271 37 69 261, US: +1 773 654-2673). There is no cost or obligation for us to check for you. If a certification need is discovered we can provide a quotation to make sure that all your certification needs are covered.
If you have any questions you can also use our chat-window in the bottom right. (Please check your browser settings if you can’t see the window)

For more information about BIS certification, please refer to our free brochure “BIS Certification Made Easy“.