Focus: GS-III Indian Economy
Why in news?
Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution launched the Bureau of Indian Standard’s Mobile App ‘BIS-Care’ and three portals – the Standardization, Conformity Assessment and Training Portals of e-BIS for consumers.
Details
- Consumers can check the authenticity of the ISI-marked and hallmarked products and lodge complaints using the BIS-Care app.
- e-BIS is an integrated portal covering all of BIS’s functions, enlisting the services of outside agencies for factory and market surveillance and development of mobile app-based and AI-enabled surveillance methods.
- BIS is developing a portal on Consumer Engagement, which will facilitate the online registration of Consumer Groups, submission of proposals and approval thereof, and complaint management.
- BIS has formulated a scheme for the recognition of other Standard Development Organizations in the country with the objective of harmonization of standard formulation.
Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS)
- The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is the national Standards Body of India working under the aegis of Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Government of India.
- It is established by the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 1986 – Hence it is Statutory Body.
- The organisation was formerly the Indian Standards Institution (ISI). (The ISI was registered under the Societies Registration Act – Therefore ISI was NOT a Statutory Body.)
- As a corporate body, BIS has 25 members drawn from Central or State Governments, industry, scientific and research institutions, and consumer organisations.
- BIS also works as WTO-TBT (World Trade Organisation Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade) enquiry point for India.
Benefits of BIS
- Providing safe reliable quality goods.
- Minimizing health hazards to consumers.
- Promoting exports and imports substitute.
- Control over proliferation of varieties etc through standardization, certification and testing.
Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 2016
- BIS Act allows multiple types of simplified conformity assessment schemes including self-declaration of conformity.
- BIS act provides enabling provisions for making hallmarking of precious metal articles mandatory.
- The Act enables the Central Government to appoint any authority/agency, in addition to the BIS, to verify the conformity of products and services with the established standard and issue certificate of conformity.
- There is a provision for repair or recall, of the products (bearing Standard Mark) that do not conform to the relevant Indian Standard.
- BIS (Hallmarking) Regulations, 2018 under the BIS act calls for Hallmarking of Gold, Silver jewellery and Gold, Silver artefacts.
