Underwriters Laboratories (UL) India, a globally trusted name in safety standards, is gearing up to help electronics manufacturers meet the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) compliance deadline of October 3, 2013 for safety certification of electronic products manufactured, imported or sold in India.
The compulsory certification order by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) was issued under the Electronics and Information Technology Goods (Requirements for Compulsory Registration) Order 2012. Under the mandate, electronic products falling under 15 pre-determined categories imported or sold in India are required to be tested for quality standards and certified by the Bureau of Indian Standards. The products include plasma and LCD televisions, LFD monitors, laptops, tablets, microwave ovens, printers and scanners among others. This is to ensure that the end users receive good quality products.
UL India, with its history of innovating safety solutions has been accredited by the BIS to offer testing services. UL India is working closely with Indian manufacturers through the project evaluation, documentation, submission, pre-testing and follow up process while providing them with updates on the scheme. UL offers testing and verifications for a complete range of IT products like notebooks, laptops, etc. UL also helps manufacturers in providing advisory services regarding regulatory requirements for different countries.
UL has ramped up its capacity in the Bangalore and Manesar facilities making additional investments to bring in more testing equipment. Around 100 engineers trained on various kinds of electronic testing are working round the clock to meet the fast approaching deadline. UL is also employing its talent pool outside India to provide the necessary testing skills. UL has increased its capacity from testing 50 products a month to 200.
Also, the engineers are working in shifts to keep pace with the deadline set by the DeitY. If a product fails, UL provides a detailed analysis to the manufacturer regarding the failure and help design the product as per standards.
Currently UL India is working with some of the prominent names in the field of electronics and IT which includes Samsung, Lenovo, Epson, HP, etc. to meet the safety compliance standard. Samsung Electronics became the first manufacturer to receive the Certificate for Safety for its printers based on UL (Underwriters Laboratories) test reports authorized by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).