Change Management

Manufacturers with TAC/AIS approval certificates for their products must comply with the applicable Indian regulations for AIS certification (iCAT or ARAI approval) compliance (the AIS-Standards).

The applicant/certificate holder is responsible to announce any planned relevant changes by submitting the required applications and to implement changes only after approval by the Indian authorities.

Notifiable changes include the following items:

• Changes regarding the product design
• Changes regarding the product structure
• Changes regarding a “key component” (e.g. changing the tank cap of an automotive fuel tank)
• Changes of a raw materials
• Changes of suppliers
• Changes in organizational structure (e.g. change of responsible person for AIS certification (TAC approval)

Changes made by the Indian certifying authority that require certificate updates include:

• Updated AIS-Standards

The India Central Motor Vehicles Rules (CMVR) explicitly state that only the responsible certification body will decide if an official change application must be filed and what the corresponding consequences for the certificate holder will be.

Here is a brief video about the AIS certification, presented by Julian Busch, director of
MPR International GmbH / China Certification Corporation:

You can also watch this video on our Video Channel.

In case there are major changes regarding the certified product itself, the applicant may be required to send samples for testing in India.

If the production line is going to be shifted, or the entire factory will be re-located, Indian authorities will typically require a new initial AIS/TAC certification or at the very least a factory inspection of the new facility by Indian auditors.

AIS/TAC certificate holders often report changes which have already been implemented during their follow-up audits. However, this is not the accepted way to notify the Indian authorities of changes. Factories run the risk of non-conformance and possibly even suspension or revocation of their AIS/TAC certificate if they do not follow the prescribed procedures for change management.

The Indian authorities constantly work on improving the AIS-Standards. As soon as a new AIS-Standard becomes mandatory, all changes in certificates and new AIS/TAC type approvals need to comply with the new standard. Holders of ARAI registrations/ iCAT registrations that are in compliance with the old AIS-Standards will have to apply for a change of AIS standard within the deadline specified by the Indian certification authority ARAI and might be required to do product re-tests according to the new AIS-Standard.

The framework of the AIS/TAC type approval certificates are determined by the CMVR and newly published AIS-Standards. Together, they describe the AIS type approval process, AIS/TAC certificate characteristics and regulations regarding the marking are set. When the Indian certification authorities issue new AIS-Standards, certificate holders are responsible to apply for a change of certificate within a certain time frame after a new Notification has been officially announced.

Valid AIS/TAC type approval certificates are required to comply with the most current AIS-Standards. If certificate holders do not apply for a change of their TAC certificate within the allotted timeframe, they run the risk of non-conformance and possibly even suspension or revocation of their certificate.

If you are unsure whether you have made notifiable changes on your products without informing the authorities or if you plan to implement changes and you don’t know whether you need to file a change application, contact us and we will consult with the relevant Indian institution(s) and get back with you regarding what you will need to do.We look forward to assisting you with any of your required certificate changes.

We can also let you know of any new AIS Standard(s) or Notifications that apply to your product, and inform you if an AIS/TAC certificate change will be required.

Please call or email us anytime. We can be reached by phone:
EU: +49-69-2713769261, UK:+44-2071931135, US: +1-773-654-2673 or email for any questions or concerns you may have.

For more information regarding the AIS/TAC certification, please read our free information booklet “AIS/TAC – The Booklet“.