Products of electronics and mobile manufacturers like Samsung, Apple, Xiaomi, Lenovo, Dell, boAt, among others, can now reach the market faster as the government has allowed parallel testing of 64 electronic devices, which includes mobile phones, wireless earphones, headphones, laptops, notebooks, and tablets etc.

As per the Compulsory Registration Scheme (CRS), electronic products, whether imported or manufactured locally, require to be mandatorily tested and need security approvals from the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), before being deployed in the final product and sold to consumers. Over the last one year, the government was running a pilot project for parallel testing of components, moving away from the system of sequential testing.

In parallel testing different components are simultaneously tested unlike sequential testing where the tests are done one after another. As a result, components can be deployed and products can reach market faster in parallel testing compared to sequential testing.

According to industry executives, the entire compliance process can now be completed within 4 to 13 weeks against 16-21 weeks in the case of sequential testing.

“Under parallel testing, the lab will test the first component and issue test report. This test report number along with the name of the lab will be mentioned in the test report of the second component. This procedure will be followed for subsequent components and final product also,” BIS said in a recent notification on the subject.

Electronics Industry association MAIT, which represents the IT, mobile, datacom, consumer electronics companies has called the move by BIS progressive.

“The voluntary adoption of parallel testing not only streamlines the compliance process for manufacturers but also significantly accelerates the go-to-market strategy compared to the traditional sequential testing methodology,” said Suhail Zaidi, director general of MAIT.

“This initiative enhances the speed of doing business, allowing companies to introduce cutting-edge products to Indian consumers more swiftly, thus contributing to the success of the Make in India mission,” Zaidi added.

Under the pilot project in September 2022, initially the parallel testing was allowed only for mobile phones. The scheme was later extended to include wireless earphones, headphones, laptops, notebooks, and tablets.