Question : Safety of LED Items

Will the Minister of Electronics and Information Technology be pleased to state:-
(a) whether 50 per cent of the LED items sold in the market are unsafe and if so, the details thereof and the reaction of the Government thereto;
(b) if so, whether the Government has conducted any study in this regard and if so, the details and the findings thereof;
(c) whether LED manufacturers are flouting the safety standards prescribed by BIS and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology;
(d) if so, the details thereof and the reaction of Government thereto;
(e) whether these items are being manufactured illegally causing loss to consumers and Government''s revenue; and
(f) if so, the details thereof and the steps taken or being taken by the Government in this regard?

(a) to (b): Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has awarded a study in 2017 on ‘Availability of fake/duplicate electronic products and impact of “Electronics & Information Technology Goods (Requirement of Compulsory Registration) Order, 2012(CRO)”’ for the product notified under CRO at that time inter-alia including Fixed General Purpose Luminaire and Self Ballasted LED lamps for general lighting services. In the aforesaid study report, it was found that the compliance of LED items on which the CRO was applicable at the time of study was as follows:

SL. No. Item Compliance
1 Fixed General-Purpose LED Luminaire 90.7%
2 Self-Ballasted LED lamps for general lighting services 94.8%

(c) to (f): The products are notified under the CRO, for compliance to the notified Indian safety standards as per the provisions of the Compulsory Registration Scheme (CRS) of Bureau of India Standards (BIS) under the BIS Act, 1986. As per the provisions of CRO, the manufacturer has to seek registration from BIS before manufacture or store for sale, import, sell or distribute goods in the country based on testing of the products at BIS recognized laboratories and the product has to display the Standard Mark of BIS. For the registered products, compliance to the Indian Standards are verified through the testing of surveillance sample at BIS recognized laboratories. The non-compliant products are sent to BIS for taking appropriate action as per the BIS Act/Rules. Further, based on the information received through complaints, the non complaint products are dealt as per the provisions of the BIS Act/Rules and CRO.

BIS has indicated that in respect of two cases of complaints regarding sale of non-compliant BIS marked LED products, they have carried out five raids. Based on investigation, prosecution was launched in one case as per BIS Act.

Further, Bureau of Energy Efficiency under its Standards and Labeling (S&L) program has included LED bulbs as one of the appliances with an objective of scaling up the use of high quality and energy efficient LED bulbs in the country. The LED bulbs are currently under mandatory regime of Star labeling program. Accordingly, every LED bulb being manufactured, commercially purchased or sold in India shall meet the prescribed energy performance norms. Any non-compliance in this regard makes the LED manufacturer/importer/person in trade liable to penalty which may be levied in terms of section 26 of the Energy Conservation Act 2001.
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