Background
The Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 2016 (BIS Act, 2016) is the principal legislation governing the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) — the national standards body of India, functioning under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution. The Act replaces the earlier Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 1986, and significantly strengthens the framework for standardisation, conformity assessment, quality certification, and hallmarking in India. It empowers the Bureau to establish Indian Standards, grant licences and certificates of conformity for the use of Standard Marks, and regulate the manufacture, import, sale, and distribution of goods, articles, processes, systems, and services that are notified as mandatorily requiring BIS certification.
Applicability
The Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 2016 and the allied Rules and Regulations apply to all persons and entities involved in the manufacture, import, distribution, sale, and use of goods, articles, processes, systems, and services in India — whether notified under mandatory certification schemes or voluntarily seeking BIS certification. Specifically, the compliance obligations cover manufacturers seeking licences to use the Standard Mark (ISI Mark or Hallmark) on their products; importers of goods notified under mandatory BIS certification requirements; distributors, dealers, and sellers of goods bearing or required to bear Standard Marks; certified jewellers and hallmarking centres operating under the mandatory hallmarking scheme; entities applying for or holding Certificates of Conformity for specific consignments, batches, or product types; and any person or entity that publishes, reproduces, or misrepresents Indian Standards or uses names or expressions resembling ‘Indian Standard’ or ‘Bureau of Indian Standards’. The drinking water specification compliance under IS 10500: 2012 applies to all manufacturers, packagers, and distributors of drinking water in India.
Compliance Requirement Under the Standards:
No individual shall, without the authorisation of the Bureau, in any manner or form, publish, reproduce, or record any Indian Standard or part thereof, or any other publication of the Bureau. No person shall issue a document that creates, or may create, the impression that it is or contains an Indian Standard. Making a personal copy of an Indian Standard for individual use is permitted. These restrictions apply to all forms of reproduction — physical, digital, or electronic — and to partial as well as complete reproduction of Indian Standards or BIS publications.
No person shall import, distribute, sell, store, or exhibit for sale any goods or article notified under Section 14(1) except under a valid certification from the Bureau. No person, other than one certified by the Bureau, shall sell, display, or offer to sell goods or articles notified under Section 14(3) that are marked with a Standard Mark including Hallmark, or make any claim in relation to the Standard Mark through advertisements, sales promotion leaflets, price lists, or similar means. Even certified jewellers and sellers shall not sell, display, or offer to sell any notified goods or articles bearing the Standard Mark or Hallmark, or any colourable imitation thereof, unless such goods or articles are marked with the Standard Mark or Hallmark in the manner specified by regulations, and unless such goods or articles conform to the relevant Indian Standard.
No person shall manufacture, sell, import, distribute, hire, lease, store, or exhibit for sale any goods, article, process, system, or service notified under Section 16(1) without bearing a Standard Mark or without a valid licence, or use the Standard Mark if the product does not conform to the relevant Indian Standard. No person shall make any public claim — through advertisements, sales promotion materials, price lists, or the like — that any goods, article, process, system, or service conforms to an Indian Standard without holding a valid certificate of conformity or licence from the Bureau or any other authority approved by the Central Government under Section 16(2). No person shall use, apply, or purport to use or apply, in any manner — including in the manufacture, distribution, sale, hire, lease, exhibition, or offer for sale of any goods, article, process, system, or service, or in the title of any patent, trademark, or design — a Standard Mark or any colourable imitation thereof, except under a valid licence from the Bureau. Under Section 16, the Central Government may notify goods or articles of any scheduled industry, or any process, system, or service, or the essential requirements to which such goods, articles, etc. shall conform, under an applicable Indian Standard.
Every certified body or licence holder shall supply the Bureau with such information and samples of any material or substance used in relation to any goods, article, process, system, or service as the Bureau may require for monitoring quality and for recovery of the prescribed fee. Distributors and sellers must source goods only from BIS-certified entities and ensure proper labelling and marking as per BIS guidelines before offering goods for sale or display. Where a certified body, licence holder, or their representative has sold goods or articles bearing a Standard Mark or any colourable imitation thereof that do not conform to the relevant Indian Standard, the Bureau shall direct such certified body or licence holder or representative to: (a) repair, replace, or reprocess the standard-marked goods, article, process, system, or service in the specified manner; (b) pay compensation to the consumer as prescribed by the Bureau; or (c) be liable for any other action as the Bureau may deem appropriate. The licence holder is at all times responsible for ensuring the conformance of goods, articles, processes, systems, or services bearing the Standard Mark.
No person shall, with a view to deceive or likely to deceive the public, use without the previous permission of the Bureau: (a) any name which so nearly resembles the name of the Bureau as to deceive or be likely to deceive the public, or any name which contains the expression ‘Indian Standard’ or any abbreviation thereof; or (b) any title of any patent, mark, trademark, or design in relation to any goods, article, process, system, or service containing the expressions ‘Indian Standard’ or ‘Indian Standard Specification’ or any abbreviation of such expressions.
A licence to use or apply a Standard Mark shall be granted in Form-VIII against an application made under Regulation 4, to use or apply a Standard Mark in the form specified in the applicable Scheme in Schedule-II. The licence shall be granted initially for a period of up to five years and may be renewed for a further period of up to five years. An application for renewal of the licence to use a Standard Mark shall be made before two months of its expiration to the Bureau in the prescribed form. The Standard Mark shall not be used or applied by the licence holder in any manner other than as specified in the licence and the applicable scheme.
A Certificate of Conformity (CoC) is granted whenever conformity to Indian Standard(s) or part of a standard, or essential requirements, is required to be demonstrated in relation to: (a) goods, articles, processes, systems, or services on a continuous basis, or goods and articles in a batch or lot; (b) goods, articles, processes, systems, or services on the basis of a supplier’s declaration of conformity; (c) goods and articles on the basis of initial testing in a laboratory for type approval with or without the right to use for subsequent production; or (d) any other situation in which the Executive Committee of the Bureau decides that a Certificate of Conformity should be granted. The CoC is primarily proof of product compliance for specific consignments or batches. The Certificate of Conformity shall be granted initially for a period of five years and may be renewed for a further period of up to five years.
Drinking water shall comply with all the requirements specified in IS 10500: 2012 — Drinking Water Specification (Second Revision). This includes physical and chemical requirements, pesticide residue limits, bacteriological requirements, virological requirements, and biological requirements. The analysis of pesticide residues shall be conducted by a recognised laboratory using internationally established test methods meeting the residue limits as specified in the Standard. Water that does not conform to the physical, chemical, bacteriological, virological, and biological requirements of IS 10500: 2012 shall not be offered for sale or distribution as drinking water.
Penalty & Consequences
The following penalty provisions apply across the compliance obligations covered in this blog.
Section 29(1) of the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 2016 — Penalty for Contravention of Section 11 and Section 26(1)
Any person who contravenes the provisions of Section 11 (restrictions on publication and reproduction of Indian Standards) or sub-section (1) of Section 26 (misuse of the name ‘Bureau’ or ‘Indian Standard’ expressions) shall be punishable with fine which may extend to five lakh rupees.
Section 29(2) of the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 2016 — Penalty for Contravention of Section 15
Any person who contravenes the provisions of Section 15 (import, sale, exhibition of notified goods without BIS certification) shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine which shall not be less than one lakh rupees but may extend to five times the value of goods or articles produced, sold, offered for sale, or affixed or applied with a Standard Mark including Hallmark, or with both. Where the value of the goods or articles cannot be determined, it shall be presumed that one year’s production was in contravention, and the annual turnover in the previous financial year shall be taken as the value of goods for computing the fine.
Section 29(3) of the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 2016 — Penalty for Contravention of Section 17
Any person who contravenes the provisions of Section 17 (manufacture, sale, etc. of goods without Standard Mark or without valid licence) shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine which shall not be less than two lakh rupees for the first contravention and not less than five lakh rupees for the second and subsequent contraventions, but may extend to ten times the value of goods or articles produced, sold, or offered for sale, or affixed or applied with a Standard Mark including Hallmark, or with both.
Suspension or Cancellation of Licence / Certificate of Conformity — Sections 18, 19, and 20
Contravention of any conditions of a Standard Mark licence or Certificate of Conformity may lead to suspension or cancellation of the licence or Certificate of Conformity by the Bureau. The Bureau may additionally direct the licence holder or certified body to repair, replace, or reprocess non-conforming goods, pay compensation to affected consumers, or take such other remedial action as the Bureau deems appropriate. Any penalty deemed fit by BIS may also be levied in addition to or in lieu of suspension or cancellation.
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