What is BIS and What Does It Do?

What is BIS?

The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is India’s statutory authority for product standards established under the BIS Act, 2016. Its mandate spans across four functions:

Formulation of Indian Standards (IS codes) that define minimum quality benchmarks,

Certification of manufacturers that meet these standards,

Operating testing laboratories for independent verification

Enforcing compliance across manufacturing sites, ports, and distribution channels.

This combination of standard-setting, testing, certification, and enforcement distinguishes BIS from an advisory body. Its decisions carry legal implications for entities/businesses looking to access India’s consumer markets.

The implications for businesses operating in India

For Foreign manufacturers, they cannot legally sell in India if they do not have valid BIS Licenses for their product.

For Indian manufacturers, they can only sell BIS licensed products (If mandated by Quality Control Order) in the Indian market. Buyers, institutional procurement bodies and large retail chains increasingly treat the ISI mark as a procurement baseline rather than an optional quality signal. Non-certification no longer just triggers regulatory action — it locks you out of the market entirely.

For importers, compliance depends entirely on the foreign supplier’s licence, which the importer does not control. An importer’s customs clearance is, among other things, contingent on the active status of their supplier’s licence, a status that can change without notice and without any action on the importer’s part.

How BIS certification works

BIS administers multiple certification schemes. The applicable scheme is determined by product category and manufacturing location.

Indian manufacturers apply under the ISI Mark Scheme. This involves product testing at a BIS recognised laboratory, a factory inspection and an ongoing surveillance after approval.

Foreign manufacturers apply under the Foreign Manufacturers Certification Scheme (FMCS). Applications must be filed directly by the overseas manufacturer. BIS conducts a facility inspection, followed by product testing. Application timelines typically range from six to nine months.

Electronics and IT products fall under the Compulsory Registration Scheme (CRS). Unlike other schemes, CRS does not require factory inspection, but testing at a BIS-recognised Indian laboratory remains mandatory.

Two common errors that cause avoidable delays are applying under the wrong scheme and submitting reports from non-recognised laboratories. Both can extend timelines by several months.

BIS maintains a public portal to verify licence status, product scope, and manufacturing location. This should be checked before every shipment.

Legality and risks

The authority of the BIS over mandatory product categories is statutory rather than discretionary. Under the BIS Act, 2016, operating without a valid licence for notified products is a grave offence that can lead to significant monetary penalties, sales prohibitions, and criminal liability for recurring violations.

Active market surveillance is maintained through direct coordination between the BIS, customs authorities, and state-level agencies. Any goods identified with counterfeit ISI marks, expired licences, or missing certifications are liable for interception and seizure. Importers face immediate financial consequences upon port detention, as demurrage and ground rent charges begin accruing from the first day. In such instances, the available remedies are limited to re-exporting the goods, securing a specific exemption, or facing total confiscation.

A critical compliance factor is that BIS licences are strictly facility-specific. A licence granted for one location does not cover additional factories owned by the same supplier, even if the manufacturing processes and products are identical. Consequently, if a supplier migrates production to an uncertified facility without obtaining a new licence, the resulting shipments become non-compliant. This shift frequently occurs and can undermine an importer's thorough due diligence.

It is observed that many times applying under the wrong scheme or submitting test reports from a non recognised BIS laboratory for specified product categories are the two most common errors which lead to rejection of licenses.

Traders and distributors holding inventory at the time a QCO comes into force face a related exposure. After the enforcement date, non-certified goods in stock cannot legally be sold or stored. The financial loss falls entirely on the holder of the goods.

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