BIS May Soon Come Under Commerce Ministry

NEW DELHI, 14 NOV 2020:

The consumer affairs department is now initiating a proposal for transfer of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) to commerce ministry, barely eight months after it had opposed a similar proposal from the commerce ministry.

While opinions are divided with regard to the merits of the proposal, the Prime Minister’s Office has sought details about the BIS and its functions.

Sources said the process started after Union minister Piyush Goyal directed the department officials to take quick action to transfer BIS to the commerce ministry. Goyal took charge of the food and consumer affairs ministry in addition to railways and commerce after his predecessor Ram Vilas Paswan passed away.

Paswan had opposed the proposal from Goyal’s ministry. “It’s up to the government to take a call and soon it wants to do this. This only requires change in allocation of business rules,” said a source.

The earlier avataar of BIS, Indian Standards Institute (ISI) was set up in September 1946 as per a resolution of the Department of Industrial and Supplies. The BIS came into existence under an Act of Parliament in 1986 and it was put under the consumer affairs department.

“The standards are made for products and the end user is the consumer. The BIS also functions as a regulator. How can these factors be ignored? Going by the same logic heavy industries ministry should deal with all the vehicle standards and regulations,” pointed out a government source who did not wish to be named.

However, some of the former BIS officials told TOI that the proposal was long overdue as the agency is primarily responsible for making standards for industrial goods.

“In most of the countries, agencies making standards for industrial goods are under the trade and commerce departments. Only in recent years we started setting standards for services. Bringing BIS under commerce will help us go a long way to make India Atma Nirbhar, which is the government's focus,” said one of these former senior BIS officials.

Another official said this should not be seen as a turf issue.

A former top official in the consumer affairs department said transferring the BIS to commerce won’t mean that consumers will be taken for a ride considering the strong new Consumer Protection Act. “The Act has provisions for product recall, product liability and class action suits. These can be exercised, if consumer rights are violated,” he said.The Times Of India