In 2012 Compulsory Registration Scheme (CRS) was introduced by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) now called Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) along with Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). Under this scheme, it is mandatory for manufacturers to get their products registered before launching them in the Indian market.

BIS Registration is essential for all the electronic products which are listed in Compulsory Registration Scheme (CRS). All manufacturers’ regardless (foreign or Indian) need to apply for this registration to Import the product in India or for doing sales into the Indian market. In India, the Department of Electronics and Information Technology needs the obligatory certificate for 77 electronic products such as audio and video, IT equipment, mobile phones, smart card readers, and other similar gadgets. Hence, every foreign manufacturer of these products is required to obtain a BIS license to export products in India. Consequently, if the foreign manufacturer operates in the Indian market without the BIS license, the manufacturer would be penalized under the BIS Act.

The Bureau of Indian Standard released an official gazette notification stating the requirement of compulsory registration for the said product category under scheme II. Any manufacturer around the globe including India wishes to manufacture an invertors or UPS, have to get themselves registered with the compulsory registration scheme of BIS. Without a valid BIS license, no manufacturer can sell or trade its equipment in India.

Role of BIS Registration: 

• The very first role of the BIS lies in providing national standards that must be contemporary and user-friendly. These national standards must pay due attention to technological developments and also focus on the interests of the consumers. National trade must equally be taken into account while the national standards are formulated.
• Secondly, the BIS must ensure that it actively participates when it is about the formulation of the International standards. This should be done in order to provide backing so that the Indian interests are kept in mind and given due weightage. Moreover, it is done to make sure that the Indian standards are harmonized well under the realm of any scheme.
• Next in line, concerning the objective of the Bureau of Indian Standards is that the branch offices must be given due regard and be seen as the focal points with respect to the organization.
• BIS also entails the role that involves working on improving its brand image, thereby increasing the brand value. Necessary measures must be resorted to giving effect to it.
• BIS must make sure that the Web-enabling is done pertaining to the Certification Marks Management System.
• Further, the BIS is required to ensure that all its associated laboratories are well taken care of. It can range from the need to upgrade the laboratories to streamlining its functioning.
• It is to be ensured by the BIS that the appropriate work is being done so that productivity is increased. 
• Efforts must be made by the BIS in the direction of intensified training. The training is required in various fields with a special focus on the norms related to standardization and the aspects of the certification. Field of the testing must be given due attention.
• The implementation of the schemes must be overseen by BIS from time to time.
• It should be noted that with regards to the working of the BIS, there has to be introduction of the IT tools that would enhance the overall processing.

A BIS registration certificate is granted to a manufacturer ‘A’ of that particular product ‘B’ being manufactured at site ‘C’ under brand ‘D’. In case any of the 4 factors change, a new application for a BIS certificate is to be applied with BIS. The four important factors for BIS registration are 

• Manufacturer: The BIS license is only granted to the manufacturer of the applied product. The importer, trader, retailer, etc. are not eligible for the license. However, they can act as their representative in India if the manufacturer doesn't have their liasioning office in India. But the license is issued in the name of the manufacturer only. 
• Manufacturer Address: The license is granted to the manufacturer for a particular site address. In case the address of the manufacturer changes, a new license is to be applied for. 

Or in case the manufacturer has one or more manufacturing addresses for the manufacturing of the same device, separate licenses are applied with BIS.

• Product Category: If a manufacturer is manufacturing more than one product then he has to apply a separate license application for each product category. For example, a manufacturer who is manufacturing mobile phones and adapters both, has to file 2 separate applications with BIS.
• Brand: A manufacturer/OEM who is manufacturing the same product for more than one brand has to apply for a separate license with BIS. For example, if a manufacturer is manufacturing batteries for brand ‘A’ and Brand ‘B’ has to apply for two separate licenses with the department.

The following entities can apply for BIS Registration:

• Any manufacturer domestic or foreign willing to sell its product in the Indian market as notified in the scheme is eligible to apply for the license.
• Any existing manufacturer who wishes to sell its products under a different brand is eligible to apply.
• Any existing manufacturer, manufacturing its product from a different location is eligible to apply.

The document set of BIS CRS registration requires testing documents, brand documents, factory documents, authorization documents, and all India representative documents.

Also, the test report generated by the BIS recognized test LAB will also be required to be submitted along with the grant application.

All the documents must be prepared in the prescribed format published by the Bureau of Indian Standard and signed stamped by respective signatories. 

Below mentioned is the list of all the major documents required for applying fresh application with the bureau.

The BIS CRS registration scheme is majorly categorized in 6 steps. The process starts from the nomination of AIR if the foreign manufacturer does not have its liaison office in India. In that case, the AIR can be the Importer, Trader, or Indian subsidiary of the manufacturer. However, in the case of domestic manufacturers, the manufacturer itself can act as an AIR.

Once the AIR is nominated for the manufacturer, the manufacturer needs to register himself with the department. This process is also known as ‘know the manufacturing processes. Post portal approval the testing and application submission is to be done for the certification process. The submitted application is scrutinized by the department officials to rectify any errors. In case of no errors, BIS grants the final license to the applicant along with the eight-digit R number.

The entire process of BIS registration takes 4-5 weeks in which testing, documentation, and department scrutiny is involved. The below-mentioned figure depicts a brief lifecycle of the BIS application.

BIS Lab Testing Process

We have to submit the below-mentioned list of documentation for testing, the testing process takes about 10-12 working days.

• CDF with Critical component list
• Transformer details
• PCB Layouts
• Circuit Diagram
• Enclosure Diagram
• Business license
• Organization Chart

We would be requiring samples for the main model and series model respectively for testing. After Testing we will proceed with the BIS Registration process.

Fee for new application

Fee for Inclusion

Fee for renewal

Renewal can be applied for 2/3/4/5 years.
**- Concession in a processing fee of twenty percent (20%) shall be applicable to micro small and medium enterprises (MSME).

Number of licenses issued country wise:

Corpseed being a single-stop solution service facilitate ensures a hassle-free registration for BIS Certification. We at Corpseed facilitate end-to-end solutions for all Indian Regulatory compliance.

• Free consultation on the applicable standard on the said end product
• Assistance in preparing and managing documents
• Application filling
• Product testing coordination with BIS recognized LAB    
• Liasioning with the department officials on behalf of the applicant
• Timely approval in predefined ETA
• Quality service with minimum charges.