Indian toy retailers play hardball as they sit on non-BIS inventory

Some shut shop as they fear raids

Indian toy retailers are sitting on inventories they acquired before certification by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) became mandatory, forcing many to shut shop temporarily. Toy retailers Business Standard spoke to feared losing their stockpile to surprise raids.

The BIS grants licence to toy-manufacturing units based on an assessment of their manufacturing and testing wherewithal through factory visits, as well as testing of toys in BIS laboratories (labs) or BIS-recognised labs in line with Indian standards.

No individual is allowed to manufacture, import, sell/distribute, store, hire, lease/exhibit for sale toys that do not conform to the Indian standards or do not bear the BIS Standard Mark i.e., the ISI mark under licence from BIS.

The Toys (Quality Control) Order that made BIS certification mandatory for toys came into effect in January 2021 to prevent the sale of cheap quality goods in the market. The notification came in August 2020, giving companies enough time to comply.

Earlier, imported toys were certified by Customs officials who would take a sample from each container at the port and send them to labs for testing. 

“Toys are non-perishable and have a protracted shelf life. But fear of raids and losing their stock have forced many small-scale retailers to down shutters. There is no way to liquidate the non-BIS certified inventory they are currently stuck with,” said Pulkit Singal, general secretary, All India Toys and Baby Products Association (AITBA).

Before the certification became a mandate, the industry estimates around 70 per cent of toys sold in India were from China. The Indian toy market size reached $1.5 billion in 2022.

IMARC Group, a leading market research company, expects the market to touch $3 billion by 2028, exhibiting a compound annual growth rate of 12.2 per cent during 2023-2028, according to a report by IMARC.

Singal said Indian manufacturers are not providing retailers with the variety needed for a brick-and-mortar toy store. “Retailers do not have the variety to fulfil customer demand. Earlier toys used to be imported, significantly influencing store turnover and profitability,” he said. 

One of the retailers Business Standard spoke to said around 25-30 per cent toy shops in the national Capital have closed their doors because they have non-BIS certified toys.

Faridabad’s toy retailers are playing hardball. They have extended their 15-day stir by another three days.

A toy trader and manufacturer said retailers do not have adequate steady supply since many manufacturers do not even have the requisite licence to manufacture.

Pawan Gupta, member of the All India Toys Association, said of the 8,000 toy manufacturers in India, only about 1,000 have the BIS licence.  

Since BIS certification norms are stringent and prohibitively expensive for small and medium-scale manufacturers to comply with, they often do not apply for a licence, said Singal.

Nitin Gulati, member, AITBA, and a manufacturer, said toy retailers are spinning out of control.  

“The old toy stocks imported before January 2021 have been tested at ports in accordance with the current BIS standards of IS 9873 and 15644. They may not have the ISI mark, but that doesn’t necessarily make them subpar.”

Last week, the government said that in December, BIS had conducted 44 raids across various locations and seized 18,629 toys during its enforcement drive against outlets selling toys without a valid BIS certification.