S. RONENDRA SINGH
NEW DELHI, JUNE 24:
Datawind, the company that manufactures Aakash or Ubislate tablets, could run into trouble as it has not sent its application to get the product registered by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).
“We have not got any application for registration from Datawind. There were 27 applications we got from different companies and we have given registration numbers for two products,” a BIS official told Business Line.
Suneet Tuli, Chief Executive Officer, Datawind, did not respond to questions sent by e-mail.
According to an order passed by the Government, 15 electronic products including video games, microwave ovens, laptops, tablet computers, LCD television, telephone answering machines, electronic music systems and printers, and the companies manufacturing these products have to get registered before July 3.
However, according to the BIS official, there are only nine testing laboratories in India for giving registration numbers to these products. Therefore, the Government may allow companies to sell the products as long as they have applied for registration before the deadline.
The Government may not extend the deadline, according to an official in the IT Department.
“Companies that have already sent applications for registration will be allowed to sell the products in the market even if they do not get registration numbers by July 3. But, those who do not send any application will not be allowed to sell their products,” a senior official at Department of Electronics and Information Technology said.
Companies such as Datawind have only one more week to meet the deadline or stay out of the market.
The move is aimed at making sure that all products sold in the country meet the safety measures set by the Government, passed by BIS-approved testing laboratories.
Under the order, if any product is found to be sub-standard or defective under these norms, it will be treated as scrap and disposed and all companies, whether domestic or multi-national, have to get the registration number for each product they sell in the market.
According to a CyberMedia Research report, 9.05 lakh tablets were sold in the first quarter of this year by as many as 53 domestic and international vendors.
The overall growth market of tablet computers registered a 159 per cent year-on-year growth in which Datawind led the market with 15.3 per cent. Micromax and Apple followed by 12.3 per cent and 11.7 per cent respectively.
(This article was published on June 24, 2013)
