BIS Licence Deadline Has Passed: How Air Fryer Importers Must Comply With India's QCO 2026 | EPRO Air Fryer Industry Update

【Industry Update】Sourced from PCN India Global, published 29 October 2026. Original: https://pcnindiaglobal.com/2026/10/29/electrical-appliances-qco-2026-is-302-bis-certification

India's 2026 Quality Control Order (QCO) for electrical appliances is now in force, and the compliance clock for air fryers has already started. From 1 October 2026, 90 categories of household and commercial electrical appliances — including fryers and commercial fryers — cannot be manufactured, imported, sold or stocked in India without a BIS licence and the ISI mark. The order, the Safety of Household, Commercial and Similar Electrical Appliances (Quality Control) Order, 2026, was notified by DPIIT on 6 April 2026 as S.O. 1739(E) and replaces the 2025 version. Every covered product must meet IS 302 (Part 1):2024, India's adoption of IEC 60335-1:2020, under the ISI mark Scheme-I. For foreign manufacturers the only route is BIS's Foreign Manufacturers Certification Scheme (FMCS), and the licence is issued to the factory, not the importer or brand. The practical path runs through eight steps: confirm scope, group models into series to minimise samples, appoint an Authorised Indian Representative (AIR) who carries legal responsibility, prepare the full dossier (factory layout, machinery and test-equipment list, quality-control plan, circuit diagrams, critical-components list, manuals and marking), pass the BIS factory inspection and sample draw, complete independent testing at a BIS-recognised lab, receive the licence and CM/L number, then live under ongoing surveillance and renewals.

The deadlines are not theoretical. Large and medium Indian makers and all foreign manufacturers (importers) were required to be certified from 1 October 2026 — that date has passed. Small units have until 1 January 2027 and micro units until 1 April 2027. A roughly six-month sell-off window lets declared pre-deadline stock clear (until ~31 March 2027 for foreign importers), but only if the manufacturer already holds or has applied for a licence. Existing IS 302 (Part 2) licensees may test to the 2008 or 2024 edition of Part 1 only until 23 February 2027; after that, only the 2024 edition is accepted. The penalties are real: under Section 29 of the BIS Act, 2016, selling or importing uncertified goods can bring up to two years' imprisonment, a fine of at least ₹2 lakh for a first offence (₹5 lakh for repeats, up to ten times the value of the goods), and customs can hold or seize the shipment. The most common mistakes are assuming a brand's licence covers every factory, testing to the old 2008 edition, confusing CRS with ISI, relying on undeclared old stock, and booking shipments before the licence is granted. Critically, BIS inspection slots for foreign factories fill up after every QCO deadline — so the advice is to apply early.

EPRO Perspective: As a manufacturer & exporter (工贸一体, one team from mold to shipment), EPRO reads the live QCO 2026 deadline as confirmation of what our India-bound buyers already feel — certification, not price, is the gate that decides whether a shipment clears or sits at the port. BIS (FMCS) is exactly the kind of compliance moat that separates suppliers who can quote a certification-included lead time from those who surprise the buyer at customs. EPRO already holds CE / UKCA / ETL / CB approvals and is building BIS into its dual-zone air-fryer OEM / ODM programs, so importers receive a certification-ready unit rather than a customs gamble. With 500,000 units-per-month capacity across 8 lines, EPRO can run BIS sample submission and production ramp-up in parallel — the same integrated advantage that lets India-bound orders hit their delivery windows even as the market grows past 2.3 million units a year. For buyers riding India's boom, the takeaway is simple: write BIS into the contract early, and pick a factory that can front-load the licence instead of gambling on the inspection queue.

Looking for an air fryer OEM/ODM partner for the India market? Talk to EPRO — manufacturer & exporter, one team from mold to shipment.