There are at least 4 keys of India Type Approval Certification: WPC ETA, TEC MTCTE, BIS CRS, and BEE. However, among those certifications available in India, there are two types that are commonly applied to ICT devices. Those are WPC ETA and TEC MTCTE certification.
WPC ETA or “Wireless Planning & Coordination (WPC) Wing, Equipment Type Approval (ETA)” is a certification scheme applied to radiocommunication products operate within free-license bands in India. Some examples are the devices that utilize Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, RFID, Zigbee, NFC, or other type of radio frequency technologies.
While TEC MTCTE or “Telecommunication Engineering Centre and Mandatory Testing and Certification of Telecom Equipment” is a certification for telecommunication devices that connect directly to a telecom network. It verifies compliance with technical, and safety standards set by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
WPC ETA and TEC MTCTE Certification Label
Certification label or mark is important to apply, especially before the product is exported to the target country. This mark is an indication that the ICT product has complied with local standard. It means that the product is already legal to be sold, imported, or used within the territory where that standard is applied.
When it comes to India, there are two types of certifications that are commonly applied to ICT products. These certifications are WPC ETA and TEC MTCTE. So, what are the labelling rules of WPC ETA and TEC MTCTE? Here’s the resume of it.
For WPC-ETA certification, there is no labelling obligation. So, after certificate is issued, it’s done. There’s no other task left to do.
On the other hand, labelling obligation is applied to TEC MTCTE certificate. After the TEC MTCTE certificate is issued, there’s an obligation for the certificate holder to affix the TEC Label. Here is the list of labelling rules for TEC MTCTE certification:
- OEM is mandatory to apply the following components to all equipment sold/used in India
- The OEM / Brand name;
- The equipment’s trade name, model name, serial number;
- Relevant TEC certification label (TEC Logo along with MTCTE followed by Certificate Number).
- If the OEM of the product is foreign companies, AIR (Authorized Indian Representative) must ensure that the equipment is properly labelled.
- However, the TEC labelling is not mandatory for the equipment manufactured prior to the date of issuance of MTCTE certificate.
- Requirement of labelling on certified products shall be exempted for initial period of six months w.e.f. date from which testing and certification of respective equipment in India is notified as mandatory or six months from the date of issue of MTCTE Certificate, whichever is later.
The detailed labelling guidelines are given in Annexure-D
Annexure-D: Labelling Guidelines
- TEC label consist of the following components:
- TEC certification label, which should be affixed on the body of the equipment.
- Indication of equipment conforming to Essential Requirements in its technical document, as shown in Figure D.2 below.
- ‘e-label’ of TEC Certification, in the case that the certified Telecom / related ICT equipment comes with integrated displays, in lieu of physical labelling, is also permitted.
- The ‘TEC certification label’ on body of equipment needs to conform to following guidelines:
- The ‘TEC certification label’ consists of TEC logo. The logo must be drawn in the exact style as indicated below. If the dimension of TEC logo is reduced or enlarged, aspect ratio must be maintained.
- The height of TEC logo shall be 1/4th of the size of the brand name on the product, subject to a minimum height of 6mm. However, if the size of brand name is less than 6 mm due to space constraint, then the height of TEC logo may be kept the size of the brand name.
- The TEC label can be presented as engraved, raised, embossed, debossed, or in printed label.
- In case of engraving or debossing, Figure – D.2 in the guidelines below can be referred. The TEC logo (in color) has to be engraved / debossed while the other portion of the label (in white) is to be flush with product body surface.
- If the logo is raised or embossed, then the TEC logo shown in Figure- D.1 (in white) has to be raised while the other portion (in color) is to be engraved.
- If the TEC logo is color printed, then the color composition given in the attached figure (RGB=0,108,156) must be maintained with no significant variation in color. However, black and white label is also permitted (colored=black, white=white).
- The ‘TEC certification label’ shall be legible, indelible, durable and should be easily discernible under normal lighting conditions. In case of e-labelling, same should not be possible to be deleted.
- The ‘TEC certification label’ shall be affixed on the product at a prominent location. So that it is clearly visible to the user. However, in case of removable or user replaceable outer cover (e.g., back cover in case of few mobile models) it can be placed below removable cover.
- The technical manual of the product should contain the information that this product conforms to the relevant Essential Requirements of TEC, Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications, Govt of India, New Delhi-110001.
- The ‘TEC certification e-label / physical label’ consists of TEC logo along with MTCTE followed by Certificate Number as given in the below figure:
- The device should not require any special accessory/ tool or supplementary plug-in to access the e-label (e.g., the installation of a SIM / USIM card).
- Compliance related information must be programmed by the manufacturer, and the information must be secured in such a manner so that third party cannot modify it.
- The information can be in the form of firmware or software menu. This must be provided in easily accessible way and cannot be modified.
- The information related to the compliance should be placed in the section containing device’s regulatory information. Regulatory information required on the packaging and user manual are also permitted to be presented in the form of electronic media (CD or Online access or QR-code or memory devices or any other form for user convenience).
- Users must be able to access the information without requiring entering special access codes or permissions. Simply, the information shall be accessible by user in no more than four steps in device’s menu.
- Instructions on how to access e-label must be included in the operating instruction, user’s manual, or as a sheet inserted in the package of the product.
- Alternately, instructions to access the information may be available on the website related to the product. And the instructions on how to access the website must be provided in the product’s user manual or package.
- Devices using ‘e-label’ must still have a physical label affixed to the packaging of the product (printed) at the time of import/ storage for actual sale or during distribution.
Why We Care
Certification label or mark is something important in the approval process. This mark will be sign that the product is already certified. This means that through the marking, buyer will know that the product they’re buying has complied with the applied standard.
If we look back to the certification process, this process is not finished when the certificate is issued. It’s because we still have labelling or marking process that we need to do. As for India Type Approval, marking requirement is quite complex. There are multiple rules that we need to look carefully in order to make the label created correctly. Therefore, we need to make sure or even consult with expert before applying India Type Approval mark to avoid any issue in the future.