BEE certification was introduced in 2002 on the basis of the Energy Conservation Act 2001 of the Indian government in order to curb rising electricity consumption and thus come closer to international climate targets. Every product must be marked with a clear logo: the mandatory “Star Rating Label” is intended to give consumers an incentive to buy energy-efficient products.

In addition to 10 electrical products such as refrigerators, air-conditioning systems and televisions, car tyres have also had to be registered with and tested by the BEE since 2021.

A valid BIS certification is required for BEE certification. Together with some documents, the producer (factory) is then registered first and then the product with a test report according to the BEE specifications.

The most important facts about BEE certification

Application documents

months minimum duration

minimum costs

Required documents

Steps

Cost break down

Required documents

Steps

Cost break down

What is the BEE certification for?

BEE certification includes both mandatory and voluntary standards. Under Find Your Product you can search for both types of standards or products, but the following overview already shows you the mandatory products:

Frost-free (No-Frost) refrigerator
Tubular fluorescent tubes
Room air conditioners
Distribution transformer
RAC (cassette, floor-standing tower, ceiling, corner AC)
Direct cooled refrigerator
Electric geysers
Colour television
AC inverter
LED light bulbs
Car tyres

One of the most important features of BEE certification is that all products concerned must first obtain BIS certification. In addition to the mandatory BEE certification groups listed above, there are also voluntary product groups. These products include, for example, household appliances, computers and industrial electronics. In these categories, the BEE logo (Star Rating Label) is thus intended to be a voluntary seal of quality to make the product more attractive.

How does the BEE certification process work?

As described above, BEE certification has 4 essential steps:

Submit application documents
Carry out product tests in ILAC-accredited laboratory
Receive certification
Mark

Since BEE certification requires BIS certification, for which many documents must already be submitted, only some general and distribution information is now required. Manufacturers must list their distributors and report the number of imported units every three months. This is relevant simply because manufacturers are supposed to buy the labels if necessary. The label should look something like this and must be applied to the sales packaging (and possibly also to inner packaging):

Frequent mistakes

There are errors in the application documents

The Bureau of Energy Efficiency also has high formal requirements that must be observed.

Your Authorised Indian Representative (AIR) does not participate

our AIR has many responsibilities himself. If he does not understand or take care of them, the certification cannot be done.

The products have not been properly tested

BEE certification is largely based on existing Indian Standards (IS), but only requires certain tests within these (or several) standards.

The products are not marked

The chargeable (~0.07 USD) Star Rating label must be attached, and often in several places (e.g. on the product itself, on the product packaging, on a protective cover, etc.).