The Hindu : Crackdown on fake ISI-mark users

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Aug 02, 2003

National

National

Crackdown on fake ISI-mark users

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI Aug. 1. In a major swoop on those using fake ISI marks, the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has raided 42 firms across the country and seized huge quantities of spurious products.

The simultaneous raids covered Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal, and Orissa.

The raid conducted on July 24 focussed mainly on the units manufacturing goods of every day use such as packaged drinking water, electric cables, sockets, switches, gas stoves, plywood and wooden flush doors.

In Delhi, the offenders included Hilton International, manufacturing electric tandoor under `Hilton' brand, Bajaj Agencies who produce LPG gas stoves under `Lakshmi', `Surya Point', `BPLine', `Videocon', `BPL', `Samsung' and `LGShine' brands, Saver Electricals, manufacturer of electrical cables, and switches and sockets under `Benson' and `BLG', and Aastha Cables, which produces electrical cables under `Geep', `Ajay' and `Signature' brands.

In Tamil Nadu, action was initiated against four firms in Chennai and two in Coimbatore. The Chennai firms are New Golden Eagle, which manufactured packaged drinking water, N.Chidambara Pandyan Nadar and Company, an LPG stove manufacturer, and Karani electricals and Selvi Electricals, which deal in electric cables, switches, sockets, and appliances. In Coimbatore, the firms are Srinivasa Agencies, dealing in pumps and motors and Moon Light Electricals, dealing in cables, and energy meters.

In Andhra Pradesh, raids were conducted on Sindhu Beverages, O.S.Beverages, Hygiene Foods and Beverages and Aqua Super, all Hyderabad-based firms, manufacturing packaged drinking water and Vijay Electricals of Vishakapatnam, manufacturer of mixers and grinders and Scaf Industries of Madhavadhara, which produces packaged drinking water. In Karnataka, action was taken against Asha Cables of Bangalore and in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab region, raids were conducted on Ramji Plywood of Lucknow, Quality Plywood and Pukhraj Plywood of Yamuna Nagar and Indian Bottling Company of Faridabad, which manufactured packaged drinking under the brand name of `Sparrow' and `India Pure'.

Giving details of the raids, spokesperson of the Union Consumer Affairs Ministry, under which the BIS comes, said the offence for using ISI mark fraudulently is punishable by imprisonment upto one year and a fine upto Rs. 50,000. He also announced that the BIS had recently brought in 23 more items under compulsory certification.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National