The government on Wednesday exempted some air conditioner parts including high capacity compressors from mandatory quality control norms for a year on industry demand, till October 2024.
The quality control order (QCO) for air conditioners, compressors and its parts came into force on October 1 this year and it applies equally to those which are produced by domestic manufacturers and imported.
Hermetic (sealed) Compressors of more than 7000 W (2 TR) capacity have been exempted from QCOs for one year till October 2024 for the manufacturers of air conditioning and refrigeration equipment and related parts. These compressors are used for industrial purposes.
The notification issued by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) also exempted 200 numbers of goods or articles imported for the purpose of research and development by manufacturers of air conditioning and refrigeration equipment and related parts per year. These imported goods and articles will not be allowed to be sold commercially and can be disposed of as a scrap.
Goods produced by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certified manufacturers before the QCOs came into force will be allowed to be sold till March 2024.
Exemption from QCOs has been given to 6,000 hermetic compressors and heat exchangers domestically manufactured or imported for maintenance and sales per year by each of the manufacturers of air conditioning and refrigeration equipment
Hermetic compressor and heat exchanger imported by domestic manufacturers who are certified by the BIS or manufacturer who has applied to the BIS for certification for the relevant goods and articles for manufacturing products for export have also been exempted.
The Quality Control Order for Air Conditioner and its related Parts, Hermetic Compressor and Temperature Sensing Controls were first issued in December 2019. Later temperature sensing controls were dropped from the list on industry’s request.
The date of implementation of the QCO was extended three times keeping in view of difficulties faced by the AC manufacturers due to COVID-19 pandemic, to align with date of implementation of BEE energy Table, non-availability of adequate testing labs, and inability of BIS to undertake in-person audits of foreign manufacturers due to restrictions on foreign travel.
The QCOs are applicable to products domestically manufactured as well as imported. The focus of the government is to bring products under the ambit of QCOs for the development of the quality ecosystem in the country and to provide the consumers with quality products. This also checks imports of poor quality cheap products into the country and provides protection to domestic industry.
From the start of 2021 the government had imposed quality control standards on toys, both domestic and imported. Following the order 36 licences have been granted to foreign toy manufacturing units and 1140 to domestic manufacturing units.
The quality control order has led to a decrease in imports of toy and allied items into India to $421.35 million in FY 23 from $592.17 million in 2019-20 even though during this period overall imports saw a substantial growth.