IoT Device Certification in India (2026): WPC ETA, BIS CRS and TEC MTCTE, and Which Ones Your Product Actually Needs
Which approval does your device need? The honest answer from anyone who has taken a connected product through Indian market entry is "it depends on three things nobody told you to write down on day one": what radio it carries, what that radio connects to, and what else is in the box.
Three agencies, three acronyms, and three portals all touch the same product. The Wireless Planning and Coordination (WPC) wing of the Department of Telecommunications grants Equipment Type Approval (ETA) for radio equipment. The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) runs the Compulsory Registration Scheme (CRS) for notified electronics. The Telecommunication Engineering Centre (TEC) runs Mandatory Testing and Certification of Telecom Equipment (MTCTE). A device can need one, two, or all three, plus a handful of obligations that have nothing to do with radio: electronic-waste producer responsibility, battery rules, and legal metrology for anything that measures or is sold by weight.
Teams that treat this as a paperwork stage after the design is frozen lose weeks, because test reports need accredited labs, samples need shipping, and a failed test sends the board back to the layout tool. Teams that treat it as a design input, decided at the architecture review, usually pass with one round of testing.
This guide is organised as a field guide. First the three regimes and what each really checks. Then the obligations that ride along. Then one entry per common device type, each with the same structure: what usually applies, what usually does not, what evidence to prepare, and what to watch for. It ends with a planning method and a small piece of code that turns a product description into a checklist to verify.
Indian equipment rules change often, product lists are notified and amended, and consultancies publish conflicting summaries. Treat everything here as a map for asking better questions of an accredited lab or the official portals, not as a ruling on your product.
Three Regimes That Look Like One
Regime | Issued by | What it checks | Typical evidence | Typical status |
WPC ETA (Equipment Type Approval) | WPC wing, Department of Telecommunications | That radio equipment operating in licence-exempt (de-licensed) bands complies with the conditions for those bands: frequency, power, emissions | RF test report from an accredited Indian laboratory, self-declaration, product details, label sample | Reported as granted by self-declaration for eligible de-licensed-band devices since a 2024 office memorandum; commonly quoted government fee of INR 10,000 per model; valid for the model unless specifications change |
BIS CRS (Compulsory Registration Scheme) | Bureau of Indian Standards | Safety and electromagnetic compatibility of products on the notified list, tested to the relevant Indian standard | Test report from a BIS-recognised laboratory, factory information, authorised-signatory details, Standard Mark on the product | Required only for products on the notified list; registration is per model and manufacturing site |
TEC MTCTE | Telecommunication Engineering Centre, DoT | That telecom equipment meets "essential requirements" for network interoperability and security | Test reports from a TEC-designated lab against the relevant essential requirements, application on the MTCTE portal | Applies to notified telecom equipment categories; certificates reported with a validity of several years for a regular certificate and a shorter one for a provisional certificate |
Two distinctions prevent most confusion. WPC is about spectrum; TEC is about the network. A Wi-Fi router needs both because it radiates in a de-licensed band and it is telecom equipment that sits on a network. A battery-powered sensor that only radiates in the 865 to 867 MHz band usually needs WPC and not TEC. BIS is about the product, regardless of radio. A power adapter shipped in your box may be BIS-notified even when your IoT device itself is not.
Reports from consultancies differ on exactly which IoT categories fall under MTCTE, and the notified list has expanded in phases. The reliable practice is to ask a TEC-designated lab to confirm the classification of your specific product, in writing, before testing starts.
WPC is about spectrum, TEC is about the network, and BIS is about the product.
The Obligations That Ride Along
A radio approval does not finish the job. Several obligations apply to many connected products and are routinely discovered late.
Electronic waste (E-Waste Management Rules). Producers of listed electrical and electronic equipment have extended producer responsibility: registration with the Central Pollution Control Board's portal, collection and recycling targets met through authorised recyclers, and labelling. The rules also carry a restriction on hazardous substances (the Indian RoHS clause), limiting lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, and specific brominated flame retardants to defined concentrations in covered equipment. Keep material declarations from your suppliers.
Batteries. A product with a battery pack falls under battery waste rules that set producer responsibility for collection and recycling of battery waste. If you sell a device with a lithium cell inside, confirm whether you are the producer of the battery waste for EPR purposes.
Legal metrology. Any device that measures weight, length, or volume for trade is regulated by the Legal Metrology Act 2009 and its rules, with model approval and verification requirements, and packaged goods have declaration and labelling requirements. A smart scale or a load-cell-based product needs a separate path from radio approvals.
Import documentation. An importer needs an Importer-Exporter Code, correct customs classification, and, for wireless goods, the ETA reference. The WPC states that an ETA self-declaration from the importer or authorised Indian representative may serve as evidence for customs in applicable cases.
Marking. The ETA number, the BIS Standard Mark where applicable, and TEC identification where applicable must appear on the product, packaging, or documentation as the relevant regime requires. Labels are part of the design.
One written classification from an accredited lab, requested at the architecture review, prevents most late-stage surprises.
Field Guide by Device Type
Each entry uses the same four labels so that you can find your product quickly and compare.
A battery-powered LoRa sensor node (865 to 867 MHz)
Usually applies: WPC ETA, as the product radiates in a de-licensed band. E-waste EPR registration if you place the product on the market as a producer. Battery obligations if a cell ships with it.
Usually not: TEC MTCTE, because the node does not connect to a telecom network operator's network itself. Whether a LoRaWAN gateway and the private network around it change the picture is a question for the lab. BIS CRS, unless the product contains a notified component such as a charger.
Evidence to prepare: RF test report covering transmit power, occupied bandwidth, and band edges for the 865 to 867 MHz range from an accredited Indian laboratory; block diagram; antenna details; user manual; label design with the ETA number position.
Watch for: transmit power and antenna gain combinations. A module certified at one power setting is not automatically compliant with a different antenna. Duty-cycle and channel-plan settings in firmware should match the approved configuration, and any region-switch option in the stack should lock to the Indian plan in production builds.
A BLE wearable, beacon, or tag
Usually applies: WPC ETA for the 2.4 GHz radio. BIS CRS may apply depending on the product category and its notified status (some personal-wearable and audio categories are listed); check the notified list for your exact product description. E-waste and battery obligations.
Usually not: TEC MTCTE, unless the device also provides a telecom function.
Evidence to prepare: RF test report from an accredited lab; if BIS applies, safety and EMC reports to the specified Indian standard; battery safety documentation for lithium cells.
Watch for: the lithium cell. Cell safety standards and transport marking requirements are checked more often than teams expect. Check whether your battery supplier already holds the relevant certification, and ask for the documents early.
A Wi-Fi-enabled gateway, camera, or display
Usually applies: WPC ETA for the 2.4 GHz and, where present, 5 GHz radios. Many Wi-Fi network devices also fall under BIS CRS or TEC MTCTE depending on their function; routers and similar network equipment are the clearest TEC cases. E-waste obligations.
Usually not: nothing safe to assume. This is the category where all three regimes meet, and the classification depends on whether the device is an access point or router, a camera, or an end-user appliance.
Evidence to prepare: RF reports for each radio, safety and EMC reports, TEC essential-requirements reports where the category is notified, and a documented classification rationale.
Watch for: cameras and surveillance equipment, which have drawn additional security-testing attention in recent years. Ask your lab specifically about the status of security testing for video-surveillance categories as of your submission date.
A cellular IoT device (NB-IoT, LTE-M, 4G Cat-1)
Usually applies: WPC ETA for any de-licensed radios (Wi-Fi, BLE) in the product; TEC MTCTE or equivalent for the cellular functionality, as the device connects to licensed networks; E-waste and battery obligations. Operators also run their own device and module approvals.
Usually not: a single approval covering the whole product. Cellular modules typically arrive with certifications from other countries and from carriers, but a module's international approvals do not substitute for Indian approvals.
Evidence to prepare: the module's test reports and certificates, your end-product test reports, TEC application documents, and a record of the module's firmware and band configuration (including the bands enabled in the Indian build).
Watch for: the module's regional variants. Ordering a global module and enabling Indian bands in firmware is common, and the certified configuration must match what ships. Keep the AT-command or provisioning profile that enables bands under version control and tie it to the approved configuration.
A product that ships with a power adapter or charger
Usually applies: BIS CRS for the adapter, if it falls in a notified category (many external power supplies and chargers are). The adapter's registration belongs to the adapter's manufacturer, and you as the product maker need to buy a registered adapter and keep the evidence.
Usually not: a duplicate BIS registration of the adapter by you.
Evidence to prepare: the adapter's CRS registration number and marking, a purchase record from a registered source, and a photo of the marking on the unit in your box.
Watch for: substitution during production. A supplier changing the adapter after approval silently changes the compliance position. Lock the adapter's model number in the bill of materials and in incoming inspection.
A product with an industrial gateway role
Usually applies: WPC ETA for wireless interfaces, E-waste obligations, and possibly BIS and TEC depending on the interfaces and function. Industrial gateways with Ethernet, serial, and wireless interfaces are classified differently by different consultancies, which is the signal to ask a lab for a written determination.
Usually not: consumer-only requirements such as certain labelling rules, but verify.
Evidence to prepare: classification determination from the lab, full set of test reports, mains-powered safety documentation where applicable, and ingress protection test reports if you claim an IP rating.
Watch for: the IP rating claim. An IP65 or IP67 statement on a datasheet needs a test report from an accredited laboratory behind it, because defence and utility customers will ask for it.
A weighing or measuring device
Usually applies: Legal metrology model approval and verification for trade use, plus WPC ETA if it radiates, plus E-waste obligations.
Usually not: the product is not covered by radio approvals alone, so a certified module does not make a certified scale.
Evidence to prepare: the metrological documentation, accuracy class, calibration approach, and a plan for verification and stamping by the competent authority.
Watch for: the sealing and software-integrity provisions. Trade-use measuring instruments typically need tamper-evident sealing of calibration and firmware, which is a design requirement for the enclosure and the update mechanism, not a late-stage label.
A module's certificates do not make a certified product.
Reusing a Module's Certificates, and Where That Stops
Using a pre-certified radio module saves RF design effort, and it does not automatically save Indian approval effort. Three questions to put to your lab early:
Can the module maker's existing test reports be reused for your end product's ETA, or does the end product need its own RF testing?
If you add an external antenna or change the antenna gain, does that invalidate the module's reports?
Does the module's approval depend on a specific host configuration (power supply, shielding, antenna type) that your design departs from?
A short, written answer from the lab prevents the common mistake of assuming the module's paperwork covers the product.
Choosing the Laboratory
Test reports must come from laboratories accredited for the relevant scope. For RF and WPC work, the reports are expected from Indian laboratories accredited by the national accreditation body or designated by TEC; for MTCTE, from TEC-designated labs; for BIS, from BIS-recognised labs. A lab that holds all three scopes lets you run one sample shipment instead of three.
Evaluate a lab the way you would evaluate a contract manufacturer. Ask what is in its accredited scope for your exact standards, how long its queue is, whether it offers pre-compliance scans to catch failures before the formal test, and whether it will give you a written classification determination. Pre-compliance testing is the cheapest hour in the whole process, because a failed formal test costs the retest, the shipping, and the queue position.
The pre-compliance scan is the cheapest hour in the whole process.
Planning the Calendar
Compliance rarely sits on the critical path when it is planned, and always does when it is not. A reasonable planning skeleton, with ranges that vary by lab and category and should be confirmed with your own provider:
Stage | Typical elapsed time | What blocks it |
Classification determination (which regimes apply) | 1 to 2 weeks | Incomplete product description, unclear function |
Pre-compliance scan | 1 week | Prototype hardware not representative of production |
Formal testing | 2 to 6 weeks, depending on scope and queue | Sample availability, failed items needing redesign |
Application and review (ETA, BIS, TEC) | Reported ranges from days to several weeks | Query rounds, incomplete documents |
Label and packaging approval | 1 week | Late label design |
Two scheduling rules help. Freeze the radio configuration before formal testing, because changing the antenna or power setting afterwards resets the clock. And order production-representative samples early, since test labs need units that match what ships.
A small amount of code turns the classification step into a repeatable checklist. The function below does not decide what the law requires. It records the attributes that drive the questions, prints the items to verify, and forces the team to write the answers down.
# compliance_checklist.py -- turn product attributes into questions for the lab.
# This lists what to VERIFY. It does not determine legal applicability.
def checklist(p: dict) -> list[str]:
q = []
if p.get("radios"):
q.append("WPC ETA: confirm each radio's band is de-licensed and eligible for self-declaration; "
"obtain RF report from an accredited Indian lab for: " + ", ".join(p["radios"]))
if p.get("cellular"):
q.append("TEC MTCTE: confirm essential-requirement applicability for cellular function; "
"record module part number and enabled band configuration")
if p.get("network_function") in {"router", "access_point", "gateway"}:
q.append("TEC/BIS: request written classification for a " + p["network_function"])
if p.get("ships_adapter"):
q.append("BIS CRS: adapter registration number, purchase record, marking photo")
if p.get("battery"):
q.append("Battery: cell safety certificates; battery waste obligations; transport marking")
if p.get("measures_for_trade"):
q.append("Legal metrology: model approval, verification, sealing provisions")
if p.get("ip_rating"):
q.append(f"IP rating {p['ip_rating']}: accredited test report")
q.append("E-waste: producer registration and RoHS material declarations")
q.append("Marking: ETA number / BIS mark / TEC ID placement on product and pack")
if p.get("export_markets"):
q.append("Export: " + ", ".join(p["export_markets"]) + " (CE/RED, UKCA, FCC as applicable)")
return q
product = {
"radios": ["LoRa 865-867 MHz", "BLE 2.4 GHz"],
"cellular": False,
"network_function": "none",
"ships_adapter": False,
"battery": True,
"measures_for_trade": False,
"ip_rating": "IP67",
"export_markets": ["EU"],
}
for line in checklist(product):
print("-", line)
Store the printed list with the answers, the lab's name, and the date, in the same repository as the hardware design files. Next year's product starts from this year's file.
A Gateway That Needed Everything
A representative composite, genericised: a company builds an industrial LoRaWAN gateway with Ethernet, a cellular backhaul, Wi-Fi for commissioning, a mains power input, and an IP65 enclosure. The sales team has a pilot with a large utility and a launch date.
The first plan, built by engineering, assumed one radio approval. The lab's classification review changed that. The Wi-Fi radio needed its own ETA entry. The cellular backhaul triggered a TEC conversation. The mains input and enclosure brought safety and EMC testing. The IP65 claim required a separate ingress-protection report. The external power supply, bought as an off-the-shelf module, carried its own registration, which the team had not checked. And the pilot customer's procurement checklist asked for evidence of E-waste registration.
The calendar slipped by about two months compared with the original plan, and almost none of that slip came from failed tests. It came from discovering requirements sequentially, one agency at a time, instead of mapping them all in one sitting. The product passed RF testing on the first attempt. The only retest was a conducted-emissions result that the pre-compliance scan, if it had been run, would have caught on the bench.
The revised process the company adopted afterwards fits on one page. At the architecture review, fill in the attribute list from the code above. Send it to the lab for a written classification. Run a pre-compliance scan on the first production-representative prototype. Freeze radio configuration at the design review before formal testing. Keep one folder of evidence, keyed by product and firmware version.
When the Same Board Also Ships Abroad
Many Indian product companies design for export from the first revision, and the Indian approvals are only one lane of a multi-lane road. Planning the lanes together saves re-testing, because several test items overlap (radiated emissions, safety, radio performance), and a lab that tests to several standards in one sample cycle charges less than three separate rounds.
Market | Typical regime for a connected product | Points that interact with Indian design choices |
European Union | CE marking under the Radio Equipment Directive, EMC, and low-voltage rules where relevant; cybersecurity requirements for radio equipment have applied since 1 August 2025; the Cyber Resilience Act follows | Frequency plan must change (868 MHz for LoRa instead of 865 to 867 MHz); security evidence doubles as CRA evidence |
United Kingdom | UKCA or CE-equivalent routes for radio equipment, plus the product security regime in force since April 2024 that bans universal default passwords and requires a vulnerability disclosure contact | Provisioning design (unique credentials per unit) satisfies both UK rules and good practice |
United States | FCC equipment authorisation for intentional radiators, with the radio's band plan set for the US | Regional firmware lock matters: the same hardware must not be able to transmit outside the approved plan in each market |
The design implications are concrete. Use a radio front end and antenna matching network that can be tuned or switched for each regional band plan without a board respin. Enforce the regional plan in firmware with a region lock set at provisioning, rather than a user-changeable setting. Keep a single hardware revision across regions when the radio allows it, and carry regional variants through the bill of materials as populated or unpopulated options. And write the unique-credentials-per-unit requirement into manufacturing test from the first build, since it satisfies the UK regime and the EU and Indian security expectations at once.
What a Good Test Report Looks Like
A test report is the main product of the lab visit, and a surprising number are rejected or questioned for ordinary reasons. Before accepting a report, check that it:
Names the exact product (model, hardware revision, firmware version) and the radio module, with photographs of the sample as tested.
States the configuration tested: transmit power setting, antenna type and gain, channel plan, operating mode.
Lists the standards and clauses tested against, with the edition, and the measured values against limits, not just a pass.
Shows the laboratory's accreditation scope covering those standards, with the accreditation number and expiry.
Carries a date and an authorised signature, and a unique report number you can quote in the application.
Matches the product that will ship. A report on a prototype with a different antenna or power setting from production invites queries at best and invalidation at worst.
Keep the lab's raw data and photos with the report. When a customer or authority asks a question two years later, the person who answers may not be the person who ran the test.
Where the Money and Time Actually Go
Teams new to this process estimate cost by the government fees, which are small, and are then surprised by the real drivers. The fee for an ETA self-declaration is a modest per-model amount, and the larger costs sit elsewhere:
Test lab charges, which scale with the number of radios, standards, and sample configurations.
Retest cycles, where one failed item can cost a full cycle of shipping, queueing, and re-submission.
Engineering time for a respin if a failure is in the layout or filtering rather than a firmware setting.
Calendar cost, the delay between a finished product and a sellable one.
Per-model multiplication. Approvals are per model, so a product family with five variants can mean five applications unless the variants are grouped sensibly with the lab's agreement.
Group variants deliberately. Differences that do not affect radio behaviour (colour, packaging) usually do not need separate testing, while differences in antenna, power, or radio module usually do. Agree the grouping with the lab in writing before testing starts.
When This Guide Will Mislead You
The map has limits, and four are worth stating.
Classification is product-specific. Two products with the same radio can sit in different regimes because of function, interfaces, or marketing description. Only a determination for your product settles it.
Rules move. Self-declaration paths, notified lists, fees, and accepted laboratories have changed repeatedly and will again. Check the official portals (the DoT's Saral Sanchar portal for WPC, the BIS CRS portal, and the TEC MTCTE portal) at the time of submission.
Consultancy summaries disagree. Where two summaries conflict, the lab and the portal win.
Defence and government channels have their own rules. A product sold into defence or government procurement may face extra requirements, including security testing and source-of-supply declarations, that are separate from the regimes above.
Starting Monday Morning
Write the attribute list for each product: radios and bands, cellular function, network role, power source, battery, trade measurement, IP claim, target markets.
Ask an accredited lab for a written classification against WPC, BIS, and TEC, and keep the response.
Check every bought-in module and adapter for existing certifications and for the conditions attached to them.
Schedule a pre-compliance scan on the first production-representative build.
Freeze the radio configuration: frequency plan, power settings, antenna, and firmware region lock.
Register for E-waste producer responsibility and set up supplier material declarations in parallel with testing.
Design the labels with the ETA number, marks, and required statements, and review the product pack with the lab.
Build one evidence folder per product and firmware version, so a customer questionnaire becomes a file transfer.
The Day the Pallet Waits
The scene every hardware team dreads is a shipment held because one number is missing from a label or one approval is not on file. The preventive work is dull and cheap: one question to a lab at the architecture review, one scan before formal tests, one folder of evidence. The cost of skipping it shows up as calendar, and calendar is the one cost a launch cannot buy back.
EurthTech is an engineering-first product design and embedded systems company with a development center in Hyderabad. To discuss a project, write to connect@eurthtech.com or see https://www.eurthtech.com/case-studies.
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