The Bureau of Indian Standards, empowered through an Act of the Indian Parliament, known as the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 1986, operates a product certification scheme by which it grants licences to manufacturers covering practically every industrial discipline from Agriculture to Textiles to Electronics in accordance with BIS Rules, 1987 and BIS (Certification) Regulations, 1988 under the Act.

Though the BIS product certification scheme is essentially voluntary in nature, Government of India, in public interest (for example public health and safety, security, infrastructure requirements, mass consumption) has enforced mandatory certification on various products through various Quality Control Orders issued from time to time under various Acts.

While BIS continues to grant licences on application, the enforcement of compulsory certification is done by the authorities notified in such quality control orders. The list of items under mandatory certification, together with the corresponding Indian Standard Number, and the authorities responsible for enforcing the orders needs to be known for the person engaged in manufacture, store, sell or distribute these products except under the Bureau of Indian Standards Certification Mark.

Under separate arrangements with Statutory agencies, some products have been placed under special certification schemes of lot or batch inspection carried out by BIS Inspecting officers. A majority of Gas cylinders, regulators and valves are certified through such schemes.

BIS operates the certification scheme through a network of 34 Branch Offices (BO) set up in different State capitals or major industrial towns and 5 Regional Offices (RO) overseeing the work of the Branch offices. Moreover, apart from setting eight laboratories throughout India for testing samples to check their conformity against the relevant Indian Standard, BIS has recognized number of independent laboratories having demonstrated ability and a  management system complying with IS/ISO/IEC 17025 for testing of samples.

Processes for Grant of Licence:

Under the product certification scheme BIS has established two procedures for grant of licence (GOL):

Click to see details of the steps involved in normal procedure

1. Normal Procedure – In this procedure, grant of licence is considered provided the preliminary inspection is found to be satisfactory, samples drawn during this inspection are found to be conforming and the applicant agrees to implement the defined scheme of testing and inspection and pay the prescribed marking fee.
   
   Manufacturer desirous to obtain a licence shall apply in the prescribedApplication form (FORM I). The form along with application fee of Rs 1000 is required to be submitted to the Branch Office under whose jurisdiction the manufacturing unit is located. The additional documents that are required to be submitted with the application, shall be as per the:checklist. If the application is found complete in all respects, it is recorded and assigned an application number which is conveyed to  the applicant for future reference.
   
   A Preliminary inspection of the unit is carried out by BIS on a mutually agreed date, within 15 days of recording of application to check and evaluate the firm's manufacturing capability and controls, quality control techniques, availability of testing facilities and the technical skills of the personnel during which samples of products are tested in the factory laboratory and also drawn for testing inlabs specified for the product.  
   
   The licence is granted to the applicant for the varieties of product covered under a given Indian Standard, if he has the capability to manufacture and test the product at the specified location and the sample drawn for testing in independent laboratory conforms to the relevant Indian Standard. Applicant is also required to agree to operate the prescribed Scheme of Testing and Inspection (STI) and pay the Marking Fee during the course of operation of licence.


2. Simplified Procedure – In this procedure, the applicant is required to submit test report(s) from specified laboratories along with the application. Grant of licence is considered provided the verification visit is found to be satisfactory and the applicant agrees to implement the defined scheme of testing and inspection and pay the prescribed marking fee. Sample(s) is (are) drawn during the verification visit for independent testing, but the conformity of this sample does not form a pre-condition for grant of licence. However, the test result is used for review purpose.

   Simplified procedure is applicable for GOL for all the products except for the following:

   1. products such as cylinders, valves, regulators, cement, etc., where a joint inspection or approval is required from another statutory authority;
   2. products for which licence is granted on the basis of factory testing; and
   3. Packaged Drinking Water (PDW) and Packaged Natural Mineral Water(PNMW)

   Applicant has to submit application in the prescribed Application Form and a Self Evaluation-cum-Verification Report along with prescribed documents and original test report(s) not older than one month covering all requirements according to the relevant Indian Standard from the specified laboratory together with the application fee (Rs. 1000/- plus applicable taxes) and special inspection charges (Rs.7000/-plus applicable taxes) for considering grant of licence.

   The application form with test report(s) along with prescribed documents and requisite fee is required to be submitted to the Branch Office under whose jurisdiction the manufacturing unit is located. Click here for locating relevant branch office. One application should be submitted for one product and for one manufacturing location.

   The licence is granted to the applicant for the varieties of product covered under a given Indian Standard, if he has the capability to manufacture and test the product at the specified location. Applicant is also required to agree to operate the prescribed Scheme of Testing and Inspection (STI) and pay the Marking Fee during the course of operation of licence.

   Click here to see details of steps involved in the Simplified procedure for GOL

Key contact Person: Click here to know the details of the Key person in HQ/RO/BO &Lab.

Though the BIS product certification scheme is essentially voluntary in nature, Government of India, in public interest (for example public health and safety, security, infrastructure requirements, mass consumption) has enforced mandatory certification on various products through various Quality Control Orders issued from time to time under various Acts.

While BIS continues to grant licences on application, the enforcement of compulsory certification is done by the authorities notified in such quality control orders. The list of items under mandatory certification, together with the corresponding Indian Standard Number, and the authorities responsible for enforcing the orders needs to be known for the person engaged in manufacture, store, sell or distribute these products except under the Bureau of Indian Standards Certification Mark.

Under separate arrangements with Statutory agencies, some products have been placed under special certification schemes of lot or batch inspection carried out by BIS Inspecting officers. A majority of Gas cylinders, regulators and valves are certified through such schemes.

Key contact Person: Click here to know the details of the Key person in HQ/RO/BO &Lab.

Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is operating the Foreign Manufacturers Certification Scheme (FMCS) under BIS Act, 1986 and Rules & Regulations framed there under. The Scheme is applicable for grant of licence for all products except Electronics & IT Goods notified by DeitY.

Under FMCS, licence is granted to a Foreign Manufacturer for use of Standard Mark on a product that conforms to an Indian Standard. The standards may be under mandatory or voluntary certification. Click here to locate your standards. Click here for list of items under mandatory certification.

The manufacturers, having their factory location outside India can apply under FMCS. They shall ensure conformity of their product(s) to applicable Indian Standard Specifications (ISS) and

have all machineries/facilities for manufacturing the product at their factory premises.

have all arrangements/equipments and competent testing personnel in their factory premises for testing of the product(s) as per applicable ISS.

accept the Scheme of Testing & Inspection (STI), Marking Fee and Terms & Conditions of licence

Process of Application/ granting Licence:

• Foreign manufacturer shall fill-up the Application Form  and submit duly filled-in application alongwith requisite fees and necessary documentation (in duplicate) at FMCD, BIS Headquarters, New Delhi. Ensure that application is complete, for that refer checklist of documents.
• Nominate an Authorized Indian Representative (AIR) using prescribed Nomination Form.
• After scrutiny by BIS the licence is granted, if everything is found satisfactory for a location where the product is manufactured and tested as per relevant Indian Standard(s) and Standard Mark is applied on the product conforming to such Indian Standard(s).

Key Contact person: Click to know the details of the key person related to FSMS

Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is operating Compulsory Registration Scheme (CRS) for Electronics & IT Goods as per the provision of Chapter IVA of THE BUREAU OF INDIAN STANDARDS RULES, 1987 for the product categories notified by Department of Electronics & Information Technology (DeitY) under "Electronics and Information Technology Goods (Requirement for Compulsory Registration) Order, 2012".  

As per the Order, no person shall manufacture or store for sale, import, sell or distribute goods which do not conform to the Indian standard specified in the order. Manufacturers of these products are required to apply for registration from Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) after getting their product tested from BIS recognized labs.

Click here to read more about CRS.

Registration process:

• Applicants are required to apply online (Form VI) for grant of Registration. Before applying online applicant should go through the instructions for applying online. Hard copies of application to be submitted within 15 days of online submission of the application otherwise the application will be treated as closed. Test reports issued from labs recognized by BIS under CRS  alongwith the necessary fees as per the fee structure for CRS  to be submitted with application. Refer the checklist of documents to be submitted along with the application form.  
• Manufacturers have to apply for separate Registration number for products being manufactured at different locations
• Applicants located in India have to submit an affidavit cum undertaking as per Format C. All foreign applicants having no liaison office or branch office located in India have to appoint Authorized Indian Representative(AIR) as per the guidelines issued by BIS in the prescribed nomination form. Authorized Indian Representatives of applicants located outside India have to submit an affidavit cum undertaking as per Format A/Format B as mentioned in the guidelines.
• BIS will scrutinize the application. Registration is granted for two years if everything is satisfactory.& uploaded on the applicant's portal. After every two years Registration has to be renewed after every 2 years. For details on renewal, click here
• For inclusion of new models of the same product and brand, click here to know the details.
• Refer to guidelines for use of Standard Mark and labelling requirements under BIS Compulsory Registration Scheme for Electronic and IT Products, after Grant of Registration.
• Surveillance of products under CRS is carried out by DeitY.

Contact address: Click here to know the contact details.