Standards & Metrology (BIS)

BIS, successor to the Indian Standards Institution, earlier worked under the BIS Act of 1986. A new BIS Act was notified on 22 March 2016 and brought into force on 12 October 2017, with enabling provisions for compulsory certification, mandatory hallmarking of precious metal articles and simpler conformity assessment, including self-declaration. BIS formulated 746 standards in 2014-15 and 978 in 2019-20. In June 2021, just before gold hallmarking became mandatory, only 30% of Indian gold jewellery was hallmarked.

Hallmarking of gold jewellery became mandatory on 23 June 2021 in 256 districts with assaying and hallmarking centres. Later phases added 32 districts from 4 April 2022, 55 from 8 September 2023 and 18 from 5 November 2024; a July 2025 amendment raised coverage from 361 to 373 districts, and the sixth phase from 2 March 2026 took it to 380. From 1 July 2021 to 5 March 2026, more than 60 crore gold items were hallmarked with a unique HUID. BIS-registered jewellers rose from 34,647 at the launch to 1,94,039 by November 2024 and 2,10,802 in 2025.

BIS standards are voluntary; compliance becomes compulsory when a ministry or regulator, in consultation with BIS, issues a Quality Control Order under the BIS Act, 2016. After a QCO takes effect, no one may manufacture, import, distribute, sell, store or exhibit a covered product without the BIS Standard Mark under a valid licence, and the order applies equally to Indian and foreign manufacturers. Draft QCOs are placed on the World Trade Organisation website for 60 days for comments from member countries, in line with the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade. Violations can attract up to 2 years of imprisonment or a fine of at least ₹2 lakh for a first offence.

QCO coverage is being revised as well as expanded. On 12 November 2025 the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals rescinded 14 QCOs on raw materials such as terephthalic acid, ethylene glycol, polyester yarns and several plastics, and the Ministry of Textiles revoked the viscose staple fibre QCO on 18 November 2025; the Economic Survey 2025-26 says these steps were taken to ease raw material constraints and reduce production costs. HUID marking became mandatory for hallmarked silver jewellery from 1 September 2025. The Legal Metrology (Indian Standard Time) Rules, 2026, published on 29 August 2026, come into force 180 days later, with CSIR-NPL maintaining IST and secondary timescales at five regional reference laboratories.

60 crore+ gold items hallmarked with HUID (1 Jul 2021 – 5 Mar 2026). 380 districts under mandatory hallmarking (from 2 Mar 2026). 769 products under 187 QCOs (Mar 2025); 736 products under 156 QCOs in the Year-End Review 2025. 22,689 Indian Standards in force, 9,616 harmonised with ISO/IEC (Mar 2025). 51,144 operative licences held by domestic manufacturers (2025). Sources: Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and Ministry of Science & Technology via PIB; Department of Consumer Affairs Year-End Review 2025; BIS; Economic Survey 2025-26; Trade Connect (Department of Commerce).