How much does a BIS ISI mark licence cost in 2026? Official fees, worked totals for Indian and foreign factories, and what drives the bill

Add four BIS fees: Rs 1,000 to apply, Rs 7,000 for each inspection man-day, Rs 1,000 a year as the licence fee, and the annual minimum marking fee for your product^[1]. The first three barely change between products. The fourth ranges from Rs 46,000 a year for products such as helmets and pressure cookers^[2][9] to Rs 1,46,000 for electric toys^[3], for a large enterprise.

Then add what BIS does not charge: lab testing, and for a foreign factory the officers' travel, visa and insurance, a Rs 10,000 contingency payment^[5] and a USD 10,000 bank guarantee^[6].

All official fee rules are set out on BIS ISI mark fees, and foreign factories should also read FMCS fees. This page puts them together into totals, adds reported lab and consultant prices, and shows what non-compliance costs. To compare the ISI route with electronics registration, see CRS vs ISI vs FMCS.

Every fee that can appear on a Scheme-I or FMCS bill, with when it is paid.

First-year official BIS fees for one licence (products: pressure cookers, helmets, toys), assuming one inspection man-day and that production stays below the break-even volume (so the minimum marking fee applies). Minimum marking fees are from BIS's September 2026 list^{[9][2][12][3]}; the other fees from the BIS FAQ^[1].

Each total is Rs 1,000 application + Rs 7,000 inspection + Rs 1,000 licence fee + the minimum marking fee for that size of enterprise. So for a large pressure cooker factory: 1,000 + 7,000 + 1,000 + 46,000 = Rs 55,000.

What the totals leave out:

• More inspection days. Each extra man-day adds Rs 7,000^[1]. Foreign inspections are all treated as special visits^[5].
• Lab testing. Not a BIS fee and not published in a form we could verify. Option-2 reports must come from BIS or BIS-recognised labs^[1].
• Higher production. According to a BIS grant letter, if unit-rate fees exceed the minimum, you pay the difference at renewal^[11].
• Concessions. The small and micro figures use the concessions in force until 31 May 2029^[4]. Start-ups get 80% and women entrepreneur enterprises an extra 10%^[13]. These apply to Indian MSMEs as defined in the MSMED Act^[14].

Because BIS builds each product's minimum marking fee from the cost of policing that product. Under BIS's SOP for fixing marking fees, the minimum is the testing charge for two factory samples and two market samples, plus the cost of buying two market samples, plus a BIS overhead of Rs 37,000 (the 2020 figure), rounded up to the next thousand^[8].

That explains the spread. Helmets and pressure cookers are cheap to buy and test, so their large-firm minimum is Rs 46,000^[2][9], only a little above the overhead. Electric toys need a long battery of tests to IS 15644 under the toys quality control order, so the minimum rises to Rs 1,46,000^[3].

The unit rate, which takes over once production is high, is the large-firm minimum divided by production capacity, kept between 0.01% and 0.2% of the cost of production^[8]. So for most products the variable marking fee is a fraction of a rupee per piece; for a Rs 1,000 product it cannot exceed Rs 2. Our ISI mark guide explains the scheme itself.

A large Indian factory licensed to IS 4151, with two inspection man-days, marking 2,00,000 helmets in its first year.

A large toy factory outside India applies under FMCS for an IS 15644 licence, with three inspection man-days, and later adds four more toy series. Officer travel, visa and insurance are paid at actual cost^[5], so they are shown separately.

A micro enterprise registered under the MSMED Act^[14] applies for an IS 2347 licence with one inspection man-day and makes 8,000 cookers a year.

• Application Rs 1,000, inspection Rs 7,000 and licence fee Rs 1,000^[1].
• Minimum marking fee Rs 9,200, the micro rate^[9].
• Unit-rate check: 8,000 x Rs 0.87 = Rs 6,960, below the minimum, so no top-up under the whichever-is-higher practice described in a BIS grant letter^[11].

Total official BIS fees: Rs 18,200 for the first year. If the firm is owned and controlled by a woman with at least 51% interest, a further 10% comes off the minimum marking fee^[13].

Since 25 February 2026, a Scheme-I licence is granted for up to five years at first and can be renewed for up to five more, with fees paid every year in advance before the due date^[15]. Before that, BIS's FAQ described a first grant of up to two years^[1]. Miss a yearly fee with the production statement and the licence is suspended for 90 days; a Rs 5,000 late fee within that window lifts it, otherwise it is cancelled^[15]. Renewal rules are on ISI licence renewal. For a large pressure cooker factory producing below break-even, a five-year licence paid year by year looks like this, on our arithmetic:

• Renewal application fee. We have used Rs 1,000, the figure in BIS's FMCS fee list^[5].
• Surveillance testing. BIS draws samples from the factory and buys marked products in the market for third-party testing^[1]. Counter-sample tests cost twice the normal testing rate^[5].
• Late renewal. Rs 5,000, and you still owe marking fee for the gap when you could not mark^[7].
• Scope changes. New varieties need a change in scope; under FMCS each costs Rs 5,000^[5].
• A second factory or standard. Each needs its own licence^[1], so the costs above repeat.

In order of impact, for most applicants:

BIS does not publish a single ISI testing price; labs set their own, and the bill depends on the standard. Under option-2 you apply with a report from BIS or a BIS-recognised lab that is generally under 90 days old^[1]. Under FMCS, samples drawn during the factory visit are tested in India, and the applicant ships them and pays the actual testing charges^[16].

The only figures we have are reported. One June 2026 consultancy guide puts lab testing at Rs 20,000 to Rs 40,000 for simple electronics and Rs 50,000 to Rs 1,20,000 for complex electrical or mechanical products^[17]. Treat those as a planning band, then get written quotes. Toys tested against several parts of IS 9873 and helmets to IS 4151 sit in the mechanical band; check the clause list the lab is quoting for.

Two testing costs come later. BIS buys marked products in the market and draws factory samples for surveillance^[1], and if you contest a failed sample, counter-sample testing costs twice the normal rate^[5]. Lab lists by city are on BIS labs in Delhi NCR and Mumbai and Pune.

Consultant fees are private and only what firms advertise. One consultancy lists a professional fee starting from Rs 40,000 for an ISI licence, on top of the Rs 1,000 application, Rs 1,000 licence and Rs 7,000 inspection fees, with testing and marking fees extra and 60-90 working days quoted^[18]. A filing platform sells a Rs 1,06,000 BIS package plus GST without stating what it includes^[19]. Other firms quote only on request^[20].

For foreign factories the Authorised Indian Representative is a separate cost. One consultancy's 2026 guide lists an AIR fee of Rs 46,000 per year per FMCS licence^[21]. The AIR must be an Indian resident, a graduate, free of conflicts with testing labs and is named on the licence^[22], and may usually represent only one foreign manufacturer^[22], which is one reason the fee is not trivial.

Compare firms in our BIS consultants directory, and read how to choose a BIS consultant before you sign.

BIS fees are quoted before tax. A sample BIS tax invoice indexed online shows IGST at 18% on a Rs 1,000 application fee^[23], so 18% is the likely rate, though BIS's fee pages do not print it. Foreign factories pay differently: non-SAARC FMCS applicants pay in equivalent US dollars, SAARC applicants may pay in rupees with GST or in dollars, and payment must arrive net of bank charges^[5][24].

If 18% applies, the Rs 55,000 first-year total for a large helmet factory becomes Rs 64,900, and the Rs 18,200 micro total becomes Rs 21,476. Consultant fees are also quoted plus GST^[18].

These add the official BIS fees above to reported lab and consultant figures. Lab costs are shown as the reported band for complex electrical or mechanical products^[17], so the totals are ranges. All before GST.

• Small: an Indian micro firm making pressure cookers, one inspection day, filing itself (official fees as in worked example 3).
• Medium: a large Indian helmet factory, one inspection day, using a consultant at the advertised starting fee.
• Complex: a foreign electric-toy maker under FMCS, three inspection days, four extra varieties, an AIR and a consultant package.

Work through the costs in the order you will pay them.

Far more than the licence. Contravening the Standard Mark rules is punishable with up to two years in prison or a fine of at least Rs 2 lakh for a first offence and Rs 5 lakh after that, extendable to ten times the value of the goods^[25]. Importers are bound directly^[25].

Enforcement is real and public. BIS reportedly seized over 3,500 products worth about Rs 70 lakh from a marketplace warehouse in Delhi in March 2025^[26], and CCPA ordered a marketplace to recall 2,265 non-compliant pressure cookers, refund buyers and pay a Rs 1,00,000 penalty^[27]. At the port, goods under a prohibition can attract a customs penalty of up to their value or Rs 5,000, whichever is greater^[28], while storage runs: one Mundra CFS charges Rs 405 a day per 20-foot container from day four, rising each week^[29]. See what happens when you sell without BIS and the QCO for helmets.

• Group your varieties well. BIS product manuals set grouping rules; for toys, one series covers similar designs in the same materials and sub-category^[30]. Fewer groups mean fewer samples and fewer inclusions.

• Use option-2 if you can. BIS gives about one month for grant under option-2 against four months under option-1^[1], which cuts waiting cost, though you need a recent test report from a recognised lab^[1].

• Renew on time. A lapsed licence costs a late fee and stops shipments^[7].

• Claim the concession you are entitled to. Micro, small, start-up and women-led Indian firms should register correctly before applying^[13].

• Choose suppliers that are already licensed. For an importer, the cheapest licence is the one the factory already holds. Check the scope covers your models^[31].

• Diary renewals. Our licence renewal date tool gives the last safe filing date.

Planning several approvals at once? The compliance cost estimator and India compliance fees 2026 put ISI next to CRS, EPR and LMPC, or ask us for a free compliance check.

Product-specific costs: toys, pressure cookers, helmets. For the electronics scheme, compare BIS CRS registration cost.