Frequently Asked Questions

Licence means a licence granted under Section 13 of BIS Act 2016 to use a specified Standard Mark in relation to any goods or article which conforms to a standard.

You can search for the Indian Standard against a product at the URL:
https://www.services.bis.gov.in/php/BIS_2.0/bisconnect/knowyourstandards/indian_standards/isdetails
If you cannot find the relevant Indian Standard, send a query to concerned technical department of BIS at
https://www.services.bis.gov.in/php/BIS_2.0/bisconnect/dgdashboard/committee_sso/

The procedure of obtaining BIS Certification Marks licence for Low voltage switchgear and controlgears product notified under the EEQCO is provided in the guidance document ‘Guidelines for Grant of Licence (GoL) as per the conformity assessment Scheme – X of Schedule – II of BIS (Conformity Assessment) Regulations, 2018’ and steps for applying for licence on Manakonline is given in ‘Guidance on steps to be followed for grant of licence under scheme – X for new applicants’ dated 10.08.2023. You may also refer to the Product specific guidelines as notified by BIS from time to time.

For obtaining BIS Certification Marks Licence, the manufacturer must have the requisite manufacturing infrastructure, appropriate in-process controls and quality control, testing capabilities for the product as per relevant Indian Standard (IS) against which the manufacturer wants to apply licence. The product shall also conform to all requirements laid down in the ISs.

No, separate application for each factory location is required to be submitted, even if the product and Indian Standards are same.

Products are brought under compulsory certification by the Central Government under the provision of BIS Act, 2016 or other Acts. Detail of products which are covered under compulsory BIS certification is available at https://www.bis.gov.in/product-certification/products-under-compulsory- certification/ If your product is in this list, it is compulsory for you to get a BIS licence for it.

BIS certification scheme is basically voluntary in nature. However, for a number of products, compliance to Indian Standards is made compulsory by the Central Government under various considerations viz. public interest, protection of human, animal or plant health, safety of environment, prevention of unfair trade practices and national security.
For all such products, the Central Government directs mandatory use of Standard Mark under a Licence from BIS through issuance of Quality Control Orders (QCOs) in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-sections (1) and (2) of section 16 read in conjunction with section 17 and subsection (3) of section 25 of the BIS Act, 2016.
After the date of commencement of the QCO, no person shall manufacture, import, distribute, sell, hire, lease, store or exhibit for sale any product(s) covered under the QCO without the Standard Mark (e.g. the ISI Mark).
List of all products under compulsory BIS certification along with the QCOs and their amendments is available on BIS website www.bis.gov.in under Conformity Assessment>Product Certification> “Products under Compulsory Certification”.
For more information on QCOs, please refer the guidance document on QCOs published by BIS on its website www.bis.gov.in.

Eight categories of Low – Voltage switchgear and controlgear product. such as Circuit – Breakers, switches, disconnectors, switch disconnectors, etc. as described in column 2 of the table of the EEQCO and subsequent amendments made from time to time are covered in the Electrical Equipment (Quality Control) Order, 2020.

Indian Standards can be accessed from BIS website www.bis.gov.in under the tab “Standards>Download Indian Standards” which will direct you to the Standards BIS portal: https://standardsbis.bsbedge.com/
You can register on this portal and then login to download Indian Standards for free. International (ISO/IEC etc.) standards adopted by BIS can also be downloaded on payment.

Yes, foreign manufacturers can also get BIS certification. BIS grants licence to foreign manufacturers under the “Foreign Manufacturers Certification Scheme (FMCS)”. Details including the application process, forms etc are available BIS website www.bis.gov.in under Conformity Assessment>FMCS.

The Bureau grants the licence based on successful assessment of the manufacturing infrastructure, in-process controls and quality controls, testing capabilities of the manufacturer through a visit to its manufacturing premises. Conformity of the product to the relevant standard(s) is also established through third party laboratory testing or testing in the manufacturing premises or a combination of both.

No, you will require to an obtain a BIS license under Scheme-X of Schedule–II to the BIS (Conformity Assessment) Regulations for all the products mentioned in the above Quality Control Order (EEQCO).

Yes, separate certification (licence) needs to be obtained for each manufacturing premises (manufacturing premise(s) means the premises, either owned by the applicant or otherwise, where a part of the manufacturing activity takes place and includes the premises where the final manufacturing activity is carried out and where Standard Mark is to be used or applied).

BIS grants separate licences for each product according to the Indian Standard. For example, if both the AC Circuit – Breakers (as per IS/IEC 60947-2) and Isolators [(switches, disconnectors, switch disconnectors and fuse – Combination units) as per IS/IEC 60947-3] are being manufactured in the same unit, then that unit has to obtain two separate licences for each of these products/Indian Standard.

However, a single licence is granted for different varieties of a product and the licence is granted based on the guidelines applicable for that product. Please refer the product manuals (Scope of licence and grouping guidelines) for more information related to specific products. https://www.bis.gov.in/product- certification/product-specific-information-2/product-manualsmk.

No, BIS issues licence only to manufacturing units and not to dealers /importers /retailers/wholesalers /distributors.

However, dealers /importers/retailers/wholesalers/distributors shall ensure that the products covered under EEQCOs are of BIS certified material and are to be sourced only from manufacturing unit holding a valid BIS licence.

The list of labs recognised for testing all the products including the products notified under the EEQCO can be accessed from our Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) portal i.e. lims.bis.gov.in.

Technical file comprises of documentation covering design, manufacture and operation of products to the extent applicable and necessary for demonstration of compliance of conformity. Technical file is to be submitted with the application. For more details, please see circular Ref: CMD- I/2:17:1 dated 02 June 2023 with Subject ‘Guidelines for Grant of Licence (GoL) as per the conformity assessment Scheme – X of Schedule – II of BIS (Conformity Assessment) Regulations, 2018’. Any product specific requirements for the technical file are indicated in the Product Manual for the respecting Indian Standard. The Product Manual for any Indian Standard can be accessed from https://www.bis.gov.in/product-certification/product-specific-information-2/product-manualsmk/

No, application for grant of licence under Scheme –X shall not be submitted without Technical file. Moreover, application received without complete Technical File may be processed for rejection.

The list of labs recognised for testing the products notified under the EEQCO can be accessed from our Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) portal i.e. lims.bis.gov.in.

Please see response to Q19 above.

The applicant has to bear the cost of testing of the product. Further, the applicant also has to pay fee to BIS towards submission and processing of the application. Details of fee payable to BIS is available on BIS website under the following path:
https://www.bis.gov.in/scheme-x-certification/fee/.

Conditions of BIS licence to use or apply a Standard Mark are as given in Regulation 6 of BIS (Conformity Assessment) Regulations, 2018.

The licence to use Standard Mark for the products notified under EEQCO shall initially be granted for not less than three years and upto six years.

Products manufactured for exports are not covered under the Electrical Equipment Quality Control Order. However, if the manufacturer wishes to mark his product with the Standard Mark for export purpose, he can mark it with Standard mark provided, the manufacturer shall have a valid BIS Licecne and it shall comply with the requirements specified in the relevant Indian Standards.

The accessories supplied alongwith the CBs is to be tested.

Yes, a combination of test report issued by different BIS recognised labs can be submitted for establishing the conformity of the product. However, it shall be ensured that the complete sequence is tested at the same lab.

The procedure for Grant of licence for the varieties of LV Switchgear is as per the Grouping Guidelines notified by Ministry of Heavy Industries. As per the Grouping Guidelines, in each group, a circuit breaker with maximum current rating and maximum features satisfying all operational performance criteria shall be tested (https://www.bis.gov.in/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/5-Series- Guidelines-for-Low-Voltage-Switchgear-and-Controlgear.pdf) to get the licence for the CBs tested and the CBs below the rated CBs tested in that group. In case any firm intends to get the intermediate ratings of CBs having no construction break in that group then the firm has to submit the Technical File excluding the Test Report of that variety alongwith the applicable fees. BIS will assess the technical file and if the Technical file is found satisfactory, BIS will issue endorsement to the licence for including that ratings of CBs in the scope of the licence.

The procedure for Grant of varieties for LV Switchgear is as per the Grouping Guidelines notified by Ministry of Heavy Industries. As per the Grouping Guidelines, a circuit breaker with maximum current rating and maximum features satisfying all operational performance criteria shall be tested (https://www.bis.gov.in/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/5-Series-Guidelines-for-Low-Voltage- Switchgear-and-Controlgear.pdf) to get the licence for the CBs tested and the CBs below the rated CBs tested in that group. In case any firm intends to get the intermediate ratings of CBs having construction break in that group then the firm has to submit the Technical File including the Test Report of that variety alongwith the applicable fees. BIS will assess the technical file and if the Technical file is found satisfactory, BIS will issue endorsement to the licence for including that ratings of CBs in the scope of the licence.

The Standard Mark is to be applied on the product as well as on the package If it is not possible to apply the Standard Mark on both product and package, then it is to be given on the test certificate.

BIS accepts test reports issued from BIS recognised labs. However, the test report issued by the BIS recognised third party laboratory (prior to issuance of guidelines – https://www.bis.gov.in/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/3-Guidelines-for-Grant-of-Licence.pdf ) available with the applicant may also be utilised for submission as part of the product-compliance report. Provided such test report shall not be older than 1 year from the date of submission of application. For type tests, test report which are less than 5 years old from the date of submission of application may also be accepted. In case any product specific guidelines are issued on this matter, the same shall be followed.

If the test facility for testing a particular variety/rating is not available at any of the BIS Recognised Labs, then manufacturer may approach the concerned ministry which has issued the QCO i.e. MHI in this case.

BIS licence is mandatory for the products notified in the QCO even if the product is used as a spare/ accessory in other assemblies. In case of any exemption, the concerned Ministry may be contacted.

BIS grants licence based on product type/variety for a particular manufacturing location. However, manufacture shall declare the details about of brand name to BIS for information purposes only.

Yes, all accessories shall be tested, as per Product Specific Guidelines for Low Voltage Switchgear and Controlgear.

List of documents to be submitted at the time of Grant of licence/ change in scope of licence is given in the Product Manual for the product. The same is available on BIS website.

The timelines for mandatory BIS licence for circuit- breakers is clearly defined in the EEQCO based on the rating of the product and selectivity category.
However, if a manufacturer wants to get BIS licence for his product with selectivity category B along with his BIS licence for selectivity category A, the same is permitted.

Any exemptions like non-applicability of the Order on specific product(s), product(s) meant for export, extension of the date of commencement of QCO etc. come under the purview of the Line Ministry (Regulator) who has issued the QCO i.e. Ministry of Heavy Industries in case of EEQCO. Wherever exemptions are permitted, these are clearly brought out in respective QCO itself such as exemption for products meant for export.

BIS grants BIS Certification Marks Licence for the varieties/ratings for which products are tested. Hence, the ratings of CBs at which the testing has been carried out are to be mentioned on the CBs.
However, if the manufacturer intends to mark the other ratings that are not tested at BIS approved Labs and not covered under the scope of BIS Certification Marks Licence then the manufacturers can mark those ratings of CBs by giving a different identity to those ratings (such as marking those ratings with different colour).
For example, if the product (as shown) is marked with the following ratings, in such case the manufacturer can mark BIS Certification Marks for the rating above 440 V which are not tested and are not covered under the scope of licence with different colour as shown below. Alternatively, BIS Certification Marks licence can also be marked (using asterisk) for which the ratings are tested at BIS approved Labs.

Note: * – The CBs are tested only up to 440 V