EUROPE | October 2020| ISSUE 5 | Consumer Protection Act, 2019 comes into force, covers e-commerce too

Message From SESEI

Greeting from Project SESEI!!!
Dear Readers,

A very warm welcome to all the readers to the fifth edition of our “SESEI Newsletter Europe” covering the period from July to September 2020. This newsletter provides information, latest updates on policy and standards development as well as notifications and market intelligence on the Project priority sectors covering ICT, Smart Cities, Automotive, Electrical Equipment including Consumer Electronics, Energy Efficiency and Environment, etc.

The nationwide lockdown imposed across India was the biggest in the world, forcing 1.3 billion Indians to stay indoors. Except for some essential services and activities, the rest of India’s $2.9 trillion economy remained shuttered during the lockdown period and economic activity came to a grinding halt in the country. While the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the lockdown is being relaxed to bring normalcy in the businesses, industries, and economic activities.

Finance Ministry is assessing impact of pandemic on the economy, and associated severe contractions in the GDP, which it witnessed in the last two quarters. Govt. will be taking appropriate measures to bring the GDP back on track by announcing stimulus to boost the economy, business, and investment friendly policies. Concurrently, India is also gearing up to become self-reliant (Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan) in important infrastructure sectors and is calling for private funding & investments and announcing several policies and announcements to objectify this goal. In this newsletter, we are providing you with the glimpse of all such announcements and activities.

Government has started promoting 'Make in India' products on government procurement portal “Government e-Marketplace (GEM)”. It has become mandatory now for the sellers to enter the 'Country of Origin' while registering all new products. Government is encouraging start-ups, small local sellers, MSME’S to list their products and start offering goods and services to govt. organisations, PSUs, state government, etc. The other significant move is prescribing the mandatory standards for imported goods for quality. BIS is also revamping its website, incorporating quality standards, and the information about the international norms along with a new mobile app launched called ‘BIS-Care’ and three portals – the Standardization, Conformity Assessment and Training Portals of e-BIS on www.manakonline.in . Through this application, consumers can check the authenticity of the ISI-marked and hallmarked products and lodge complaints using this app.

Sustainable Development Goals are increasingly becoming priority area in India. For the Smart Cities Union Housing Ministry has launched a framework that would help cities follow a climate sensitive road map while planning and implementing their actions, including investments. The framework has 28 indicators across five categories covering energy and green buildings, urban planning, green cover and biodiversity, mobility and air quality, water management and waste management.

In the automotive sector a program “Decarbonizing Transport in Emerging Economies (DTEE)” has been launched by Indian think tank of Govt. - Niti Aayog in a collaboration with the International Transport Forum (ITF), and the Wuppertal Institute, and is supported by the International Climate Initiative of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, which will design a framework for assessing transport emissions and help India develop a pathway towards a low-carbon transport system through new modelling tools and policy scenarios.

The Road Transport and Highways Ministry has also prepared a draft hydrogen fuel cell vehicle feasibility roadmap on which the comments are being invited. The primary objective of this report is evaluation of the safety of using H2 powered vehicles. The H2 specifications for fuel cell vehicles will align with ISO 14687 until appropriate notification takes place as per the requirements of the Bureau of Indian Standard Act of 2016.

Niti Aayog is also working on inviting investments for cell manufacturing and is proposing direct incentives for integrating Energy Storage and E-Mobility. India being the fourth largest manufacturer of automobiles and the largest in two-wheelers, it should optimize the opportunity to integrate energy storage, batteries and vehicle manufacturing for a viable commercial market.

In the ICT sector, I am also very pleased to inform you that OneM2M Specifications (Release 2) has been adopted by the Telecom Engineering Centre as the national standards for IoT/M2M, specifically catering to the need for common M2M service layer that can be readily embedded within various hardware and software and relied upon to connect the myriad of devices in the field with M2M application servers worldwide based on OneM2M Standards. SESEI along with Project partners contributed significantly towards adoption of these OneM2M standards as national standards for India. DoT is also gearing towards 5G trials and auction of 5G spectrum by late 2020.

In the Power Sector, Prime Minister has announced mega plan of "One Sun, One World, One Grid" (OSOWOG), which will connect 140 countries through a common grid that will be used to transfer solar power.

With this I would like to invite you to read the newsletter at your leisure and use the information provided for your benefit.I would like to conclude by praying for safety and good health for everyone. Happy Reading!!!!

Warm regards,
Dinesh Chand Sharma (Seconded European Standardization Expert in India)
Director – Standards & Public Policy
Mobile: +91 9810079461, Desk: +91 11 3352 1525
E-mail: dinesh.chand.sharma@sesei.eu