Essential for BIS to supervise manufacture, sale of helmets: HC

The Delhi High Court on Monday said it was essential for the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) to strictly monitor and supervise the manufacture and sale of helmets as it concerns the safety and security of the consumers.

The observation by Justice Prathiba M Singh came on an NGO's plea claiming no action has been taken by BIS on over 1,400 complaints made by it from 2019 till date highlighting various alleged illegalities and irregularities in manufacture and sale of helmets.

The NGO, Utprerit Consumer Foundation, in its petition filed through advocate Tushar A John, has also claimed that BIS was not properly monitoring and supervising the manufacture and sale of the protective head gear.

After hearing brief arguments on the issue, Justice Singh said, "Considering that safety and security of consumers is at stake, strict monitoring and supervision of the manufacture and sale of helmets is essential."

The court directed BIS to look into the complaints made by the NGO and to file a status report indicating the action taken on them and the steps taken by the authority to monitor and supervise the manufacture and sale of helmets to ensure there was no misuse of the ISI mark.

The NGO has claimed in its plea that "few companies and manufacturers are indulging in rampant illegal and unfair trade practices including misrepresentation and false declarations thereby cheating and misleading the customers by way of manufacturing and selling inter alia sub-standard helmets and/or without applicable license to manufacture helmets".

John, during the hearing, told the court that some companies are using ISI mark on their helmets despite cancellation of their licence to use it, while some others are manufacturing helmets of categories for which they do not have license to use ISI mark.

He also told the court that some of the companies were also making helmets which do not conform to the standards laid down by BIS.

"By doing such illegal acts they are risking the lives of the consumers for their petty and unlawful gain," the petition has contended.