India mandates CRO for smartphone screen protectors

The central government brought smartphone screen protectors under the Compulsory Registration Order, requiring BIS registration from April 1, 2027, a change the industry chamber said will create about 60,000 jobs.

The industry chamber said the move aims to curb low-quality imports and support compliant domestic makers by applying IS 19348:2025 for glass screen protectors.

The chamber estimated the policy will build a Rs 12,000–16,000 crore quality manufacturing industry for domestic sales and exports and generate about Rs 2,000 crore in annual GST revenue, the chamber said.

BIS registration deadline April 1, 2027 The chamber said India consumes roughly 500 million screen protectors a year, of which more than 90 percent are currently imported; prices range from Rs 50 to Rs 2,500 with no reliable correlation to quality, it added.

Officials said the six-month window to the deadline is intended to give domestic manufacturers time to set up lines, qualify processes against the new standard and secure Bureau of Indian Standards registration before enforcement begins.

The registration requirement is expected to formalize a previously informal segment by bringing trade into the formal economy, reducing practices such as under-invoicing and misdeclaration and creating a level playing field for compliant producers, the chamber said.

Manufacturers must complete BIS registration by April 1, 2027, when regulators will begin enforcement; companies that do not register risk being removed from formal distribution channels on that date.