The Bureau of Indian Standards, empowered through an Act of the Indian Parliament, known as the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 2016, 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, 2018  and  Bureau of Indian Standards (Conformity Assessment) Regulations, 2018  under the Act. The Act, Rules & Regulations can be accessed here.

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 1, 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 Inspection and Testing  (STI) and pay the Marking Fee as given in Schedule II of the BIS (conformity Assessment) Regulations, 2018 during the course of operation of licence.

Click to see Detailed Guidelines related to the certification  procedure

BIS has established two procedures for grant of licence under Scheme 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.

 A manufacturer desirous to obtain a licence shall apply in the prescribed Application form (Form V given in the Bureau of Indian Standards (Conformity Assessment) Regulations, 2018 ). The form along with application fee of Rs 1000 is required to be submitted online to the Branch Office under whose jurisdiction the manufacturing unit is located. One application should be submitted for one product and for one manufacturing location.

The additional documents that are required to be submitted with the application, shall be as per the: Guidelines for Grant of Licence (GoL) as per the conformity assessment Scheme – I of Schedule – II of BIS (Conformity Assessment) Regulations, 2018 . 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 in laboratory recognized  for the product.

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.

Products such as cylinders, valves, regulators, cement, etc., where a joint inspection or approval is required from another statutory authority;
Products for which licence is granted on the basis of factory testing;
Products (Indian Standards) for which no licence has been granted before
Packaged Drinking Water (PDW) and Packaged Natural Mineral Water(PNMW). 

However, the test result is used for review purpose.Simplified procedure is applicable for GOL for all the products except for the following:

The detailed steps for the simplified procedure are given in the Option 2 of the Guidelines for Grant of Licence (GoL) as per the conformity assessment Scheme – I of Schedule – II of BIS (Conformity Assessment) Regulations, 2018

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, deceptive trade practices) has enforced mandatory certification on various products through various Quality Control Orders issued from time to time under various Acts. 

The mandatory certification is enforced by placing the Products either under Scheme 1 (Full product certification) or Scheme 2 (Compulsory Registration Scheme). For products under Scheme 1 click here. For Products under Scheme 2 click here

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.

Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is operating the  Foreign Manufacturers Certification Scheme (FMCS)  under BIS Act, 2016  and Rules & Regulations framed there under. The Scheme is applicable for grant of licence for all products except products covered under the Compulsory Registration Scheme

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  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 Indian Standards.
• accept the Scheme of Inspection and Testing (SIT), Marking Fee and Terms & Conditions of licence

Process of Application/ granting Licence:

A foreign manufacturer wanting to apply for BIS Product certification shall shall fill-up the Application Form  and submit  it alongwith requisite fees and necessary documentation (in duplicate) at   FMCD, BIS Headquarters, New Delhi.

The Process for grant of licence under FMCS can be accessed here, which requires a visit by BIS Inspecting officer to the overseas manufacturing facility to verify the production and testing infrastructure, and testing of representative samples in BIS approved laboratory in India. The Licence is granted when both the results of factory assessment and the samples drawn are found satisfactory and the applicant has fulfilled the other administrative requirements.

The additional requirements for Foreign Manufacturer's Certification is given in Annexures VIII and IX of the  Guidelines for Grant of Licence (GoL) as per the conformity assessment Scheme – I of Schedule – II of BIS (Conformity Assessment) Regulations, 2018. These include   

• Nomination of an   Authorized Indian Representative (AIR)  using  prescribed  Nomination  Form( Form – VI of Scheme – I), Page 203
• The Applicant would be required to sign an  Agreement,  and submit an   Indemnity Bond   and   Performance Bank Guarantee  of USD 10000 from any bank, having RBI approved branch in India immediately after grant of licence.

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

Products notified to be placed under Compulsory Registration Order by Government of India are required to be registered under this Scheme, which is based on Self Declaration of Conformity. Manufacturers of these products are required to apply for registration from BIS after getting their product tested from one of the BIS recognized labs in India.

Registration process:

• An applicant must create a login at the Registration Portal   https://www.crsbis.in/BIS   by uploading Business License in English that should indicate the  scope of registration and name and address of manufacturing facility
• He should select a recognized laboratory from the BIS website for the relevant Indian Standard, and generate a test request for submission of sample.
• The applicant should submit a representative sample of the type / model of the product he wishes to place in the market to the selected laboratory
• On receipt of the test report, the applicant should confirm that the sample is conforming to all requirements of the Indian Standard and apply within 90 days of receipt on the BIS Portal by uploading the report and an undertaking of conformance to the Indian Standard.

For details of the complete online registration procedure     click here

The Scheme details can also be read from the    CRS brochure