76 pc of LED bulb brands flouting safety standards: Study

Hyderabad, Oct 30 (IANS) As many as 76 per cent of the brands of LED bulbs and 71 per cent of LED downlighters in India flout consumer safety standards, as prescribed and mandated for lighting products by the BIS and Electronics and Information Technology Ministry, a Nielsen study said.

The study was conducted across New Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, and Hyderabad and covered 200 electrical retail outlets.

"These spurious products pose a serious safety hazard for consumers, besides causing significant losses in tax revenues for the government of India, as they are illegally manufactured and sold," a statement said here on Monday.

The findings from the key markets surveyed showed that 48 per cent of LED bulb brands did not mention manufacturer's address and 31 per cent brands did not have even the manufacturer's name.

Similarly, the study on LED Downlighters showed that of the total sample size, 45 per cent brands did not display a manufacturer's name and 51 per cent brands had no mention of the manufacturer's address.

Hyderabad, in particular, did not fare well in terms of compliance with Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) norms in both LED bulbs and downlighters brands segments, with almost seven out of every 10 LED bulbs surveyed in the southern city being non-compliant with BIS norms.

As per ELCOMA (Electric Lamp and Component Manufacturers' Association), the total LED market in India is worth Rs 10,000 crore, with LED bulbs and downlighters constituting 50 per cent of overall LED market.

"The large number of non-compliant manufacturers of LED bulbs and downlighters threaten fair competition in the LED lighting market, especially for companies that are compliant with all mandatory safety standards," said Rakesh Zutshi, President of ELCOMA and Managing Director, Halonix Technologies Private Limited.

(This story has not been edited by Social News XYZ staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)