India Telecom TEC Certification Service

General Information:

TEC is the Telecommunication Engineering Center under the Department of Telecommunications. TEC certification has been a voluntary process since 1991, and as per TEC announcement No. 10-1/2017-IT/TEC/ER is slated to become mandatory in 2019 for products such as servers, LAN switches, routers, remote access servers, network security systems, etc. being sold into India market. Products under TEC are required to meet electromagnetic compatibility (EMC/EMI), and safety testing is under consideration.

The TEC certification process requires testing of samples to be performed in India and a report generated from an authorized TEC lab. The report generated by the authorized lab must be submitted to TEC for review and approval. This task must be handled by the company’s Authorized Indian Representative (AIR). Upon acceptance, TEC will issue a certificate and an ID number associated with the factory producing the product. The ID number issued by TEC must be marked on the product.

An important distinction to be made between TEC approval process and other international approval processes, including BIS and WPC, is that TEC only allows up to 10 models per certificate. Applicants should be mindful about this limitation when preparing for TEC certification.

The TEC certificate and ID numbers are issued to the factory that builds the product instead of the applicant or brand owner applying for approval. An Authorized Indian Representative (AIR) must be established in India for TEC registration. If the applicant or factory has a representative office in India, this office must take the responsibility of AIR. If there is no existing representation India, another legal entity within India can be nominated as the AIR.

Challenges Obtaining and Maintaining TEC Certification

Obtaining TEC certification can be tricky, and delays can occur without proper knowledge of certification requirements. The following are areas that can add cost or time to projects:

Determining whether products require mandatory TEC certification
Test samples are delayed in shipping, or get stuck in customs
Family model platforms are interpreted by test lab to require multiple certification reports
Numerous models require additional certificates, which adds unnecessary cost.
Products malfunction or fail during testing
Test samples are not sent with the proper test setup
Certificate or standards expire

How Can We Help?

G&M Compliance’s India office was established to assist customers in averting common certification setbacks. We utilize the following practices to achieve a fast and efficient certification experience:

Interpreting TEC product definitions, and getting clarification when necessary.
Understand process for clearing test samples through customs.
Work with test labs to maximize platform model certification coverage.
Assist in developing model numbering scheme to maximize certificate coverage
Troubleshoot issues on-site during testing, to expedite approval process.
Assist in preparing test samples, test instructions and set-up.
Track and alert customers of upcoming certificate renewals with G&M’s Certificate Alert and Tracking System (CATS).

G&M Compliance has operations in the U.S. and India to ensure your telecom product utilizes the right application, the right testing process, and moves through certification efficiently. Our compliance experts understand the technical requirements necessary to minimize the risk of failure, and stay updated on ever-changing regulations.

For more information, additional questions, or to request a quote – Please submit an online RFQ, Contact Us, or call.

Other Certifications Required

For electrical products, depending on the type of equipment, additional certifications other than WPC may be required for India. Among these are BIS for many types of electrical products, and WPC for wireless products. More detailed information can be found by clicking on the links to these specific services. For more information about what certifications are required for your product please contact us.

Certification Details

Mark – TBD. TEC ID number is required to be marked on the product.

In-Country Representation – Required

In-Country Testing – Required

Expiration Details – 5 years

Continuing Surveillance – No factory inspections. No market surveillance.

Insource Homologation Management

We have found that often times certification bottlenecks can occur within a manufacturer’s organization. As a result, we offer a service to provide internal help managing regulatory certification tasks. Because G&M is not a certification body, we are in a unique position to offer valuable regulatory expertise without any conflict of interest issues. In such cases we place G&M certification experts into our customers’ organizations to manage the certification process for them. Once on the inside, our managers can leverage G&Ms collective experience to guide certification processes in an efficient and cost-effective manner. To learn more about this service see our Homologation Management Service Page.

Certificate Alert and Tracking System (CATS)

Untimely expirations of certificates can cause delays in product deliveries. Re-certification of products will generally be treated as new submittals instead of certificate renewals. This can be time-consuming and costly. G&M provides a web-based certification tracking system that alerts users when expirations are coming, provides on-line storage of important certification documentation, and is searchable by certification specific criteria. For more information on this system see our CATS page.