According to the latest notification, India continued to impose import authorization requirements for certain electronics and IT goods, specifying that new and used electronics and IT products can only be imported if registered with the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and adhere to BIS labeling regulations.
According to notification No. 13/2024-25 by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade of India, the import of goods, new as well as second hand, whether or not refurbished, repaired, or reconditioned, notified under the Electronics and Information Technology Goods Order, 2021, is prohibited unless they are registered with the BIS and comply to the labeling requirements published by BIS, or on specific exemption letter from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology for a particular consignment.
The notification added that samples will be randomly selected from the consignments for new LED products and DC or AC-supplied control gears for LED modules.
Reuters cited an unnamed Indian government official who said that the notification did not change anything as the import policy for the affected categories was already restricted. The official added that the order has been in effect since 2021 and only required an update with the recent notification.
The Economic Times reported that industry executives had noted a significant volume of refurbished and reconditioned products being sold in India across various categories, such as notebooks, smart speakers, printers, SLR digital cameras, video game consoles, earphones, and headsets, which require approval from the BIS before being imported to India.
In August 2023, India imposed restrictions on certain IT hardware products. In response to concerns raised by local and foreign companies, adjustments were made to these restrictions in October, particularly regarding the import of notebooks and desktops. Due to these concerns, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade issued a clarification stating that there are no import restrictions on desktop PCs while restrictions still apply to the import of notebooks, tablets, all-in-one PCs, and ultra-small form-factor computers.