The Manufacturers’ Association for Information Technology (MAIT) said that the Indian electronics market is set to suffer a major slump in fiscal 2013-14 and Industry may lose over Rs 1,000 crore if the government fails to extend the April 3 deadline of Compulsory Registration Order 2012.
Welcoming the government order that makes it mandatory for all manufacturers to get their electronic products certified for compliance with BIS standards, MAIT said that though the companies were ready to comply with these standards and tests, the government needs to address the issues faced by the Industry in meeting the deadline.
The Electronics and Information Technology Goods (Requirement for Compulsory Registration) Order 2012 has put a blanket ban on the sale of certain electronic products unless they meet the standard specified by BIS. The government order lists products under 15 categories ranging from video games, laptop, notebook, tablet and plasma/LCD/LED televisions, to microwave, printers and scanners, telephone answering machines, electronic music systems, etc.
Demanding an extension of the deadline by a minimum six (6) months, MAIT warned that if the government does not pay heed to its advice, there would be a supply crunch in the market and the already troubled IT Hardware Industry would suffer huge losses.
“It will also have a huge impact on the Indian Economy as there might be delays in the launch of new products and supply of key components in the market. This will eventually impact the consumers. The shortage and delays in supply will also severely hamper government and private projects, including ongoing e-Governance initiatives in India,” saidMr. J V Ramamurthy, President, MAIT.
“It needs to be implemented taking care of the interests of all the stakeholders—users as well as the Industry,” MAIT said in the release adding that while the order will definitely help safeguard consumer interest and remove substandard products from the market, the Industry was concerned about its execution and short deadlines. “The order needs to be implemented without causing much disruption in current business or diluting its purpose,” the release stated.
Since the announcement of this Order in October 2012, the government has been sending notifications and clarification from time to time and last of such clarification was issued as late as the second week of March 2013, creating absolute confusion in the Industry. Besides, the country does not have sufficient number of labs to test these products with the fifth (5th) such facility being notified by the government as late as the 3rd week of February 2013.
Commenting on this, Mr. Anwar Shirpurwala, Executive Director, MAIT said, “We welcome this order from the government and the companies are ready to comply with these standards and tests but there are concerns in achieving the deadline. There are only six (6) labs available for these tests and they take time in testing the products. After testing, BIS takes time for certifying, and then labeling of the products needs to be done. Only after labeling, the products can be manufactured and placed in the market. If the deadline is not extended, the IT hardware supply will get affected resulting in the price hike of these 15 categories of products. Therefore, we request the government to extend the deadline by a minimum 6 months.
