LED bulbs defy BSI safety rules

Kolkata: Amidst steady growth and hype over the use of LED bulbs and lights in the country, in what can create a brou ha ha, a Nielsen study conducted across 8 major Indian cities— New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Durgapur, Bareilly, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad—suggested that nearly 47 per cent of LED bulb brands and 52 per cent of LED downlighter brands across 400 electrical retail outlets were found to be non-compliant with consumer safety standards, as prescribed and mandated for lighting products by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.

These spurious products are a safety hazard for consumers besides causing significant loss in tax revenues for the Government of India, as they are illegally manufactured and sold.

"These non-compliant manufacturers don't follow mandated safety procedures and hence the products manufactured by them are not only unsafe but also less energy efficient. This will negatively impact the government's focus on promoting energy efficient products and harm the image of the LED industry," said Raju Bista, President, ELCOMA and Managing Director of Surya Roshni Ltd.

Sumit Padmakar Joshi, Vice President of ELCOMA and CEO, Signify Innovations India Ltd. (formerly known as Philips Lighting India) echoed more or less similar sentiments.

"The LED industry has grown significantly over the past 5-6 years and this has led to the entry of several products that are non-compliant to safety standards defined by BIS. This latest study confirms that half of the LED products sold in the country still do not adhere to consumer safety standards as defined by the Government of India. We urge the government to take stringent measures to ensure better compliance to safety standards to protect the average consumer's interests," said Padmakar.