House passes Bureau of Indian Standards Bill

Parliament on Monday passed a bill to replace the 30 year-old Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Act and bring more products like jewellery under the mandatory standard regime besides ending the 'Inspector Raj'. The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Bill 2015 and a few minor amendments made by the Rajya was brought to the Lok Sabha, which passed it by a voice vote.

The bill, passed by Lok Sabha in August last year, was passed by voice vote in Rajya Sabha after two members withdrew their amendments last week. The bill seeks to establish the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) as a national body and empowers the Centre to authorise any other agency having necessary accreditation for the purpose of conformity assessment against Indian standards.

Currently, 92 items are under mandatory standards and only products and systems come under the ambit of standards. The bill proposes to "include services, besides articles and processes under the standardisation regime."

The bill also provides for compulsory hallmarking of precious metal articles, widening the scope of conformity assessment, enhancing penalties, making offences compoundable and simplifying certain provisions in the Act.

It also proposes recall of the products including with ISI marked, but not conforming to relevant Indian Standards.