ISI Mark / BIS Certification

The ISI mark is BIS's product certification scheme under the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 2016 — distinct from BIS's separate gold/jewellery hallmarking scheme. Certification under this scheme is, by default, voluntary: a manufacturer may apply to BIS for a licence to use the Standard Mark (the "ISI mark") on a product that conforms to the relevant Indian Standard, under the BIS (Conformity Assessment) Regulations, 2018.

For a defined list of products, however, compliance is made compulsory by the Central Government (or the administering line ministry) under Section 16 of the BIS Act, 2016, through Quality Control Orders (QCOs). Once a QCO notifies a product, manufacture, import, sale, or distribution without a valid BIS Licence or Certificate of Conformity for that product becomes an offence. As of the applicable QCOs currently in force, roughly 380 products fall under this mandatory "Scheme-I" ISI-mark regime — spanning categories such as electrical appliances, LPG cylinders and valves, cement, automotive tyres, and specified food products, each identified by its governing Indian Standard number in the relevant QCO.

A related but separate mandatory route, the Compulsory Registration Scheme (CRS, sometimes called "Scheme-II"), applies specifically to electronics and IT goods notified by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (introduced 2012) and is based on self-declaration following accredited lab testing, rather than a BIS-audited licence — CRS registration is not the same instrument as the ISI mark.

Before an engagement is scoped, the specific product and its applicable Indian Standard must be checked against BIS's current list of products under compulsory certification, since QCO coverage and the underlying standard number change periodically and determine which of the two mandatory routes (ISI licence vs CRS registration) actually applies.

We coordinate documentation, product standard mapping, factory information, testing requirements, and application filing for BIS/ISI certification. The exact scope depends on product category, testing cycle, factory readiness, and inspection requirements.