BIS Certification Process
How do I get BIS certification for my product?
The route depends on what your product is and which BIS scheme covers it. Most products need either an ISI Mark licence under Scheme-I (factory assessment plus product testing) or, for electronics and IT goods, registration under the Compulsory Registration Scheme (CRS). If your product is covered by a Quality Control Order (QCO), certification is mandatory before you can sell it in India.
Approach: I searched the BIS Quality Control Orders mandating the ISI Mark for chemicals, polymers, fertilizers and textiles. The application steps come from bis.gov.in and the CRS portal, which I read only as search snippets, so treat the fees and timelines below as indicative.
1. Check whether a QCO covers your product. A QCO requires the product to meet a named Indian Standard and to carry the Standard Mark "under a licence from the Bureau as per Scheme-I of Schedule-II of the Bureau of Indian Standards (Conformity Assessment) Regulations, 2018". BIS is the certifying and enforcing authority, and breaching the order is punishable under the BIS Act [1][2]. For example, the Polyethylene Material for Moulding and Extrusion (Quality Control) Order, 2021 (S.O. 1625(E), IS 7328:2020):
- came into force 180 days after it was published in the Gazette
- does not apply to goods made for export [3]
2. ISI Mark licence (Scheme-I), the general route (BIS product certification pages):
- Apply: applications are online only, through the Manakonline portal. You file Form-V with its supporting documents and a self-evaluation cum verification report.
- Choose an option:
- Option 1: BIS visits your factory and draws samples for third-party lab testing.
- Option 2: you submit conforming test reports from a third-party laboratory with your application.
- Factory assessment: BIS checks your manufacturing infrastructure, process controls, quality control and in-house testing. The visit is normally one day for Indian manufacturers and two days for foreign ones.
- Timeline: about 30 days from application, if the factory visit is satisfactory and the sample conforms first time.
- Fees: Rs 1,000 application fee, Rs 7,000 per man-day for inspection, then Rs 1,000 annual licence fee plus the minimum marking fee for your product.
3. Foreign manufacturers (FMCS)
- Non-electronics products go through the Foreign Manufacturers Certification Scheme.
- You must nominate an Authorized Indian Representative (AIR) when you apply. The AIR must:
- live in India
- be at least a graduate
- accept responsibility for compliance with the BIS Act, its regulations and the licence terms
- A foreign national can act as AIR only if employed in the manufacturer's Indian office and resident in India.
4. Electronics and IT products (CRS)
- Registration is a self-declaration of conformity.
- You apply on crsbis.in with a test report:
- from a BIS-recognised laboratory
- against the notified Indian Standard
- no older than 90 days
If you tell me the product, and whether you make it in India or abroad, I can check whether a QCO covers it, identify the Indian Standard, and see whether any products under that standard appear in the BIS product-recall register.
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What if I'm a foreign manufacturer exporting to India?
Yes, it applies to you. A Quality Control Order (QCO) attaches to the goods themselves, not to where they were made. The only exemption in these orders is for goods made in India for export, so a foreign manufacturer whose product is covered needs its own BIS licence before shipping. For non-electronics products that licence comes through the Foreign Manufacturers Certification Scheme (FMCS).
Approach: I read the Quality Control Orders in the BIS Scheme-I (ISI Mark) chemicals, polymers, fertilizers and textiles group, and BIS's official FMCS pages, which I saw only as search snippets. The orders in the data don't deal with imports or the FMCS process, so the FMCS details come from bis.gov.in alone.
What the QCOs require of a foreign producer
- The mark requirement covers the goods. The listed goods must meet the named Indian Standard and carry the Standard Mark under a BIS licence, as per Scheme-I of Schedule-II of the BIS (Conformity Assessment) Regulations, 2018. The order makes no exception for imported goods. Examples are the Aniline order (S.O. 2792(E)) [4] and the Acetone order (S.O. 1896(E)) [5].
- The only exemption is for exports from India. Older orders exempt goods "meant for export, which conform to the specification required by the foreign buyer" [6][7]. Orders from 2020 onward say simply that nothing in them applies to goods "meant for export" [8][9]. Neither wording helps a product coming into India.
- Enforcement. BIS certifies and enforces, and some orders also make the State District Industries Centre an enforcing authority [10]. Anyone who breaches an order can be punished under the BIS Act, 2016 [5].
- Lead time. Orders typically take effect 91 or 181 days after publication in the Gazette [5][11]. You need your licence in place by that date.
FMCS requirements beyond a domestic ISI licence (from bis.gov.in)
- Authorized Indian Representative (AIR): you nominate an Indian resident when you apply. The AIR accepts responsibility for compliance with the BIS Act, Rules and Regulations, and with the licence, Agreement and Undertaking signed for you.
- Performance bank guarantee:
- US$10,000, or the same amount in Indian rupees.
- It must be issued by a bank with an RBI-approved branch in India and routed through that Indian branch.
- It is due within 45 days, together with an Agreement and Indemnity Bond, immediately after the licence is granted.
- Timeline: BIS says a licence takes on average about six months from when your complete application is recorded. That is much longer than the roughly 30 days quoted for domestic applicants in my previous reply.
- Fees: the BIS pages I saw don't give a separate FMCS fee schedule. The figures in my previous reply (Rs 1,000 application fee, Rs 7,000 per man-day of inspection, Rs 1,000 annual fee plus marking fee) come from the general BIS guidance. I found no official BIS source in this search for overseas travel or per-diem charges, so I haven't given figures for them.
Electronics and IT goods don't use FMCS. They go through Compulsory Registration Scheme (CRS) registration on crsbis.in, as described in my previous reply.
If you tell me the product, I can check whether a QCO in these sectors covers it and which Indian Standard and effective date apply.
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How much does it cost?
For an overseas factory under BIS's Foreign Manufacturers Certification Scheme (FMCS), the official fees are small and fixed: Rs 1,000 to apply, Rs 7,000 per man-day of inspection, and Rs 1,000 a year for the licence. On top of that you pay a minimum marking fee that depends on the product, plus testing charges. The largest single item is the US$10,000 performance bank guarantee.
Approach: The regulatory datasets hold the BIS Quality Control Orders but no fee schedule, so the fees below come from BIS's own FMCS fee page and fee list on bis.gov.in. I saw those pages only as search snippets.
BIS fees for FMCS applicants and licensees
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Application fee (non-refundable) | Rs 1,000 |
| Inspection or special visit charges | Rs 7,000 per man-day, with more charged for any extra man-days needed for testing at the factory |
| Annual licence fee | Rs 1,000 |
| Minimum marking fee | Set per product. You pay 50% of the annual minimum up front when you apply |
| Testing charges | Payable, but no fixed figure; it depends on the product and its Indian Standard |
| Renewal application fee (non-refundable) | Rs 1,000 |
| Late renewal fee | Rs 5,000 |
How you pay
- Countries outside SAARC: you pay the equivalent amount in US dollars.
- SAARC countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Maldives, Pakistan, Sri Lanka): you can pay either in Indian rupees with GST or the equivalent in US dollars.
Other costs for foreign manufacturers (covered in my previous reply)
- Performance bank guarantee of US$10,000:
- It has to come through a bank with an RBI-approved branch in India.
- You must provide it within 45 days of the licence being granted.
- Inspector travel and daily allowances: some search results gave figures for these, but they came from consultancy websites, not BIS, so I haven't given them. I found no official BIS figure.
- Your Authorized Indian Representative and any consultant: these fees are agreed privately and BIS does not publish them.
What's still unknown: the marking fee and testing charges are what actually make costs differ between products. If you tell me your product and its Indian Standard, I can check whether a Quality Control Order covers it and look for its marking-fee rate.
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