NEW DELHI: As much as 76 per cent of LED bulb brands and 71 per cent of LED downlighter brands across 200 electrical retail outlets in the four major cities were found to be non-compliant with consumer safety standards as prescribed and mandated for lighting products by the Bureau of Indian Standards and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
Under the Unnat Jeevan by affordable LEDs and appliances for all (UJALA) scheme, the government is targeting replacing 770 million incandescent bulbs across India with LEDs. But, the survey shows that it lacks the monitoring and compliance, which has led to growth of spurious LED bulbs being sold.
The survey was conducted by Neilsen in Hyderabad, New Delhi, Mumbai and Ahmedabad in July 2017. As per ELCOMA (Electric Lamp and Component Manufacturers’ Association), the total LED market in India is worth `10,000 crore, with LED bulbs and downlighters constituting 50 per cent of the overall LED market, being widely used across homes, offices and workspaces.
“Number of non-compliant manufacturers of LED bulbs and downlighters threaten fair competition in the LED lighting market,” said Rakesh Zutshi, president of ELCOMA and MD, Halonix Technologies.
The findings from the key markets surveyed showed that 48 per cent of LED bulb brands had no mention of manufacturers’ address and 31 per cent brands did not have a manufacturer’s name. “It is important for the government to act against these spurious and non-branded products for safeguarding consumer safety and protecting their revenues against these companies,” said Sumit Joshi, V-C and MD, Philips Lighting India.