Introduction: ISI Registration for Packaged Drinking Water

Packed drinking water is water that has been treated and disinfected, which may include filtering, UV or ozone treatment, or reverse osmosis (RO), and then packaged in bottles or pouches, either plastic or glass, for our use. A product cannot include sweeteners or chemical additions (other than flavours, extracts, or essences) and must be calorie-free and sugar-free in order to be termed "bottled water."

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Increased health awareness, poor quality of accessible tap water, increased tourism, and the simple availability of bottled water have all contributed to an increase in per capita use of bottled water in India today. The country's bottled water sector is regulated, and all bottling facilities must get a license before they can operate.

ISI Registration Process for Packaged Drinking Water:

Any manufacturer/ importer willing to get their product registered with the ISI scheme of BIS has to follow the predefined procedures from the department which includes product testing, application filling, inspection, and application scrutiny.

ISI simply means Indian standards institute which has been set up to lay standards to maintain the integrity and know about the genuine nature of industrial items. It is a certified mark that ensures that the industrial and consumer good is of good quality and is safe to use. It is a well-known and recognized certification mark that verifies the quality of an industrial good in India. ISI comes with two schemes of registration that is a mandatory and voluntary registration.

The ISI mark is crucial for the certification of goods for the purpose of sale in India and is mandatory. To be able to qualify for ISI Certification the BIS criteria must be duly met by the requisite manufacturing company.

As per the Bureau of Indian Standards (Conformity Assessment) Regulations, 2018, the product is subject to fetching certificate to be able to provide assurance to the consumer or third party with respect to safety, quality and reliability of the product.

The appearance of the BIS Certification mark, also known as the Standard Mark (ISI Mark), on a product guarantees that it complies with the specifications. After ascertaining compliance to the Norm, the manufacturer is required to self-certify the licensed items.

The Bureau keeps a close eye on the quality of certified products through its surveillance operations. Surveillance of the licensee's output is carried out at regular intervals, with surprise inspections and testing of samples taken from either the marketplace or the factory premises.

Product Testing: The product for which the ISI license is required, needs to be tested in any BIS recognized Lab as per the designated Indian Standard. The test request must be generated from the manak online portal to any BIS recognized lab for the designated standard.

The lab performs all the tests as per the testing parameters mentioned under the Indian standard and generated the test report. The same reports are uploaded by the LAB on the Manak online portal, using which the applicant files the application.

Application Filling: Once the test reports are uploaded by the Lab on the Manak online portal, the applicant can fill the application form with respect to the test report generated. It is mandatory to upload all the mandatory documents as prescribed by the department in the respective fields along with all the details asked in the online application. Once all the details and documents are uploaded online, the applicant is required to pay the respective fees to the department to finally submit the file.

Department Scrutiny and Inspection: Post submission of online application to the department. The BIS officials will check and verify all the documents and details submitted by the applicant. Also, the authenticity of the uploaded test report is checked along with the test results.

In case the department required any clarification or additional documents, the same needs to be furnished before the allotted inspection dates. Once all the submitted documents and details satisfy the scrutiny officer, an onsite factory inspection is conducted by the inspecting officer where all the documents are verified in hardcopy and the manufacturing and testing procedure is verified.

Grant of License: Post satisfactory onsite inspection, the inspecting officer submits the inspection report to the certification officer with all the observations. 

The certification officer validates the online submitted details with the one checked during the inspection. On the basis of the same, the final license is granted to the applicant in the form of a CM/L (Certification of Manufacturing License) number.

Post-grant of certificate the manufacturer can use the ISI logo as a marking of quality assurance on its product for which the applicant pays the marking fees to the department. For the first year, the marking fees are paid in advance to the department. For consecutive years, the fees are paid according to the production figures done by the manufacturer in that particular year. Also, the license is valid for 1 year only, post which the applicant has to apply for renewal of the license. 

Step by Step Procedure for ISI Certification:

The ISI certification Process is categorized under two different processes defined by the department i.e. Simplified procedure and Normal procedure. The ISI certification process is majorly categorized into 7 steps in both registration processes. The entire lifecycle of the ISI application is briefly depicted in the figure below,

The entire certification process takes at least 4 to 5 weeks post submission of the application. However, the testing timeline depends upon the product for which the ISI application is applied. The testing timeline varies as per the product and its complexity. 

Our operations and liasioning team makes sure to squeeze down the above-stated timeline of the certification process by taking regular follow-ups with the department and doing timely replies in case of any concern is raised by the department. Also, our team provide onsite assistance at the time of factory inspection and ensures every aspect is in compliance with the BIS ISI norms and regulations to avoid any query or re inspection.