Centre asks states to enforce BIS certification on consumer products

NEW DELHI: The Centre on Monday directed state governments to enforce Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS) certification on consumer products while stressing the use of digital technology to protect consumer rights and reduce pending cases in consumer courts.

After inaugurating a day-long workshop on ''Consumer Protection in the northern states'' held in Chandigarh, Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh emphasized the role of technology in strengthening the consumer protection ecosystem and the importance of infrastructure and human resources in consumer commissions.

The Secretary said, ''State heads should ensure that BIS Certification is enforced on required products for consumer safety,'' an official statement said.

He also discussed the time dissemination project by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to reduce India's reliance on Western countries for time accuracy. Nidhi Khare, Additional Secretary in the Consumer Affairs Ministry, stressed the use of digital technology to protect consumer rights, reduce the pendency of cases in consumer commissions, and the importance of moving towards mandatory e-filing. She highlighted the work of the ministry on misleading advertisements, endorsement guidelines, e-commerce platforms, and direct selling guidelines, and urged consumers to be cautious of misleading ads on all platforms. She also made consumers aware of gambling games, products without BIS Certification, and influencers promoting products, the statement added. Senior officials from Haryana, Punjab, Chandigarh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, and Ladakh governments attended the workshop.