Quality and Standards in India
BIS and the ISI Mark
How the Bureau of Indian Standards sets thousands of standards, what the ISI mark means, and which products require mandatory certification.
The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is India’s national standards body.
History
- The Indian Standards Institution (ISI) was founded in 1947.
- It became BIS under the BIS Act, 1986, replaced by the BIS Act, 2016.
What BIS does
- Develops standards: over 20,000 Indian standards.
- Certifies products.
- Hallmarks gold and silver.
- Tests in its labs.
The ISI mark
The ISI mark shows a product meets the relevant Indian standard. It’s common on:
- Electrical appliances and cables.
- Cement and steel.
- Helmets and pressure cookers.
- Packaged drinking water.
Mandatory certification
For some products, ISI certification is compulsory under Quality Control Orders, and selling uncertified versions is illegal.
Consumer tools
The BIS Care app lets consumers check if a product’s licence is genuine and file complaints.
Enforcement
BIS conducts raids on sellers of fake ISI-marked products.
BIS raids a warehouse selling pressure cookers with fake ISI marks. Unsafe cookers could explode, so they are seized and destroyed.
Only certain products require mandatory certification.
- BIS is India's national standards body, originally ISI (1947).
- It has developed over 20,000 standards.
- The ISI mark certifies compliance.
- Some products require mandatory certification.
No recording for this one yet - EconReader can read it aloud for you.