India: Mandatory BIS certification for vehicle rims planned

The Indian government has drawn up appropriate quality standards for vehicle rims in order to restrict inferior imports and promote the local industry. The draft, entitled “Automobile Wheel Rim Component (Quality Control)”, presented by the Indian Ministry of Industry, Heavy Industry Department, stipulates that from October 1, 2020, all rims and imports offered in India must be certified in accordance with the BIS standard. In addition, the Ministry has sent the draft to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and is awaiting comments from member countries within the next 30 days.

The new regulation is intended to improve road safety. In line with this, the government is in the process of revising the technical specifications of another 350 products to increase safety and quality, restrict imports and promote local production. According to a government spokesman, suppliers are to be discouraged from buying imported products and instead use Indian products from the “Make in India” campaign. The draft for quality control of rims includes products for two-wheelers, three-wheelers, electrically powered vehicles, passenger cars and commercial vehicles. The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is responsible for the certification and implementation of the new quality standards.
Stricter quality standards have already been introduced in recent months for products such as toys and steel products. The EU rejects the mandatory BIS certification for the import of steel products to India and instead demands that accredited laboratories in the countries of origin can carry out certification in accordance with Indian standards. India replied that the international standards were not sufficient and also not applicable to Indian production processes. In order to promote the production of car rims in the country, the Indian government has issued an ordinance that requires manufacturers of electric and hybrid vehicles to purchase their rims or hub motors from local suppliers in order to receive subsidies. BIS stands for the Bureau of Indian Standards and is the national Indian certification body under the umbrella of the Indian Ministry of Consumer Protection, Food & Public Distribution. It is the central issuing body for BIS certification. We would be pleased to advise you on Indian certification and are always available to answer your questions.