Running a D2C brand on imported or contract-made products: BIS, EPR, Legal Metrology and website rules in India

A D2C brand usually owns the brand but not the factory. That split matters, because Indian product rules attach some duties to the manufacturer, some to the importer and some to the brand owner. A D2C brand is always the brand owner, often the importer, and sometimes the packer too.

The table shows how the main obligations fall in the three sourcing models we see most often.

A D2C brand is a brand owner and "product manufacturer" in every case, an importer when it brings in stock itself, a packer when it packs retail units, and an inventory e-commerce entity when it sells on its own site. Each label triggers a different duty.

The Consumer Protection Act is the widest. It counts as a "product manufacturer" anyone who puts its own mark on products made by someone else^[11]. So for product liability, the law treats your brand as the maker, whoever runs the factory. The table maps each definition to the duty it creates; it follows the same split as our responsibility table by business type.

Yes. BIS requires a separate CRS application for each brand name unless the brand owner is the same^[1]. A factory that already holds a licence for its own brand, or for another client's brand, cannot use that licence to mark goods with your logo.

The licence itself is granted to the manufacturer for each factory, never to a brand, importer or trader^[2]. In practice the D2C brand pays for it and often manages the application. For a foreign factory you can be the Authorised Indian Representative, because the brand owner or its registered user is one of the options BIS allows^[12]. An AIR can normally represent only one foreign manufacturer, unless the factories belong to the same group^[14]. If you use two unrelated factories for two product lines, you may need a second AIR for one of them.

What the product and pack must show:

• the Standard Mark with the R-number and IS number^[15];
• www.bis.gov.in on the product or pack^[16];
• the product details the standard requires, such as model, batch and the manufacturer's address^[15].

Watch renewals. Once a CRS licence passes its validity date without renewal, the factory may not mark or dispatch goods, even stock already made^[17]. Under the 2026 amendment, a CRS licence is granted for five years with fees paid each year in advance^[18]. More in CRS labelling and CRS renewal.

Almost always. All three EPR regimes reach the brand owner, not just the factory.

• E-waste. A producer includes anyone who sells, under its own brand, electrical and electronic equipment made by others, and anyone who offers imported equipment for sale^[3]. A D2C brand selling earbuds made by a contract factory is a producer either way.
• Batteries. A producer includes anyone who sells, under its own brand, batteries made by others, or who imports equipment containing batteries^[4]. Every battery or pack must carry the producer's EPR registration number^[4].
• Plastic packaging. Brand owners are obligated entities unless they are micro or small enterprises^[5]. If you also import, you are covered as an importer too. Plastic packaging must show the producer's or brand owner's name and EPR registration number^[19], which since 1 July 2025 can be given through a QR code or barcode^[20].

Where you register for plastic EPR depends on your footprint. A business operating in one or two states registers with the state board through the central portal, and one operating in more than two registers with CPCB^[21]. A D2C brand shipping nationwide from its own website should look closely at this.

Fees are on EPR registration costs.

Only if it imports or pre-packs. Rule 27 registration is for anyone who pre-packs or imports a commodity for sale, distribution or delivery^[6]. If you import the goods yourself, you register as an importer. If an Indian contract maker packs them, the maker registers as packer. If you take bulk stock and pack it into retail boxes yourself, you are a packer too.

The registration costs Rs 500^[6], must be applied for within 90 days of starting^[6], and stays valid until cancelled^[22]. See LMPC importer registration.

Whether or not you register, every retail pack sold under your brand must carry the mandatory declarations^[13]. For imported packs, the importer's name and address must be on the package^[6]. Since 2026, anyone who makes, packs, imports or sells a non-conforming pack, including through online channels, faces an improvement notice first, then up to Rs 5 lakh, then Rs 25 lakh to Rs 50 lakh^[8].

The Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020 apply to all e-commerce retail, including single brand retailers and multi-channel single brand retailers^[7]. A brand that owns its stock and sells directly to consumers on its own site is an inventory e-commerce entity under the rules^[7].

As an inventory e-commerce entity you must display, clearly and prominently^[7]:

• return, refund, exchange, warranty, guarantee, delivery and shipment terms, including the cost of return shipping;
• all mandatory notices and information required by other laws;
• payment methods and any fees or charges;
• the total price in a single figure with a breakup of charges and tax;
• a ticket number for each complaint, so the customer can track it.

You may not refuse returns or refunds for goods that are defective, spurious or not as described, and if you vouch for the authenticity of what you sell, you carry liability in any dispute about authenticity^[7].

Legal Metrology also reaches the listing. E-commerce entities are reported to be required to display the mandatory pack declarations for the pre-packaged goods they offer^[23]. For a D2C brand, that means your product page should repeat the pack details. A country-of-origin filter for imported products is reported to apply to e-commerce entities from 1 July 2027^[24].

On the text of the E-Commerce Rules, yes. Rule 4(1) requires an e-commerce entity to be a company incorporated under the Companies Act (or a foreign company or an Indian-controlled office abroad) and to appoint a nodal contact person resident in India^[25]. A brand selling its own stock online is an inventory e-commerce entity^[7], so the rule reaches it. A proprietorship or partnership running a Shopify-style store should take advice on this point; we have not seen it enforced against small brands.

Rule 4(2) adds a set of disclosures about the business itself, which many brand sites miss^[25]:

• the legal name of the entity (not only the brand name);
• the principal address of the headquarters and all branches;
• the website's name and details;
• e-mail, landline and mobile contacts for customer care and for the grievance officer.

Your ads and product pages must match the product's actual characteristics^[25], and you may not post reviews posing as a customer^[7]. The CCPA's 2023 dark patterns guidelines are reported to list 13 banned patterns, including false urgency, basket sneaking and drip pricing^[26]; pre-ticked add-ons and countdown timers at checkout are the usual D2C risks.

A foreign brand selling to Indian consumers from a site abroad is not outside the rules: they apply to an entity not established in India that systematically offers goods to Indian consumers^[25]. See also our page for foreign manufacturers.

Yes. Because you put your mark on the goods, you are a product manufacturer^[11], and a product manufacturer is liable for manufacturing and design defects, deviations from specification, broken express warranties and inadequate warnings, even if it proves it was not negligent^[11].

The exception that helps is misuse: no product liability action lies against a product seller if the product was misused, altered or modified at the time of harm^[11]. Clear instructions and warnings in the box, on the pack and on the product page are your best evidence.

What to do about it in practice:

• Write the factory's duties into the supply contract: which standard it builds to, who pays for recalls, and an indemnity for defects.
• Keep the test report and the BIS licence for every model and version. BIS can order a stop to supply and a recall^[27].
• Watch for version drift. A new battery supplier or charger is a change to the certified product; check the series guidelines before you switch.

• Wireless products. Earbuds, smartwatches and other Bluetooth or Wi-Fi products need a WPC ETA for each model, filed as a self-declaration for Rs 10,000 per model^[28]. The importer or authorised Indian representative signs the undertaking^[10].
• Telecom products. Wi-Fi routers and access points also need MTCTE^[29]. A foreign maker is certified through an Authorised Indian Representative, which can be the Indian importer^[30].
• Star-labelled appliances. If you sell or import an appliance on BEE's mandatory list^[31], your company must register with BEE^[31], and each brand is registered separately on the BEE portal^[32]. The label and its QR code must appear at online points of sale too^[31], and permittees must give BEE an updated list of authorised sellers by 30 April each year^[31].

A brand imports two models of Bluetooth earbuds from one overseas factory and sells them on its own site and a marketplace.

1. BIS. The factory applies for CRS for wireless earphones in the brand's name. Wireless headphones and earphones are a CRS category tested to IS 616^[33]. The brand acts as AIR.
2. WPC. The brand files two ETAs, one per model: 2 x Rs 10,000 = Rs 20,000^[28].
3. LMPC. The brand registers as importer for Rs 500^[6] within 90 days of the first shipment^[6].
4. EPR. It registers for e-waste, battery and plastic EPR as producer, importer and brand owner. Earbuds contain batteries, so the battery EPR number goes on the equipment or its packaging^[34].
5. Website. The product page shows the importer's name, country of origin, MRP and warranty and return terms, matching the pack.

The full cost picture for a product like this is on the cost of importing electronics and the Bluetooth earphones page.

For the two-model earbuds brand in the worked example, official fees come to about Rs 99,500 before GST and lab charges. The table shows the arithmetic; lab charges and consultant fees are on top.

Lock the factory's licence in your brand and your EPR registrations before the first container ships; put the website disclosures in place before you take the first order; and register under Legal Metrology within 90 days of the first import^[6].

On a marketplace you stop being the e-commerce entity and become a seller, with rule 6 duties instead of rule 7. The product rules do not change: the same BIS licence, EPR numbers and pack go everywhere.

• On your own site you are the inventory e-commerce entity, carrying rule 4 and rule 7 duties^[7].
• On a marketplace you are excluded from the e-commerce entity definition^[25] and owe the seller duties: written contract, grievance officer and complete listing data^[7].
• GST. The registration exemption for e-commerce suppliers applies only to those who sell in one State or UT and make no inter-State supplies^[42], which rules out a nationwide brand. The platform also collects tax at source; the CGST part has been 0.25 per cent since 10 July 2024^[43].
• Plastic EPR. Online marketplaces are brand owners in their own right^[5], but that does not cover your own registration.

The channel guides are Amazon sellers and Flipkart sellers; run through before listing on Flipkart before you go live.

Keep a model-by-model file that lets you answer a BIS, Legal Metrology, CPCB or consumer-court query within a day.

• BIS. Selling notified goods without the Standard Mark is punishable with up to two years in prison or a fine of at least Rs 2 lakh for a first offence, or both^[27]. BIS can order a stop to supply and a recall^[27].
• Legal Metrology. The 2026 three-step scale for pack declarations applies^[8].
• EPR. Battery-rule breaches such as missing labels or returns attract environmental compensation of Rs 20,000, Rs 40,000 and Rs 80,000 for the first three defaults^[46].
• E-Commerce Rules. Breaches of the rules are dealt with under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019^[7].

The classic D2C mistake is assuming the factory's certificates cover your brand. They do not. The others are about packs, EPR numbers and website pages that were never updated.

• "The factory already has BIS." In its own brand, which does not help you^[1]. One test report can support several brands when product and factory are identical^[47], so the fix is usually quicker than a fresh test.
• Two unrelated factories, one AIR. An AIR can represent only one foreign manufacturer unless they are in the same group^[14]. Plan a second AIR, or a BIS consultant, for the second factory.
• No battery EPR number on the pack. Producers may instead use a barcode or QR code carrying the number, after informing CPCB^[48].
• The plastic EPR "small enterprise" assumption. The brand-owner exemption is for micro and small enterprises^[5]; since 1 April 2025 a small enterprise has turnover up to Rs 100 crore and investment up to Rs 25 crore^[49]. If you import, you are covered as importer regardless.
• Missing website disclosures. Legal name, addresses and grievance contacts are separate duties from returns and warranty text^[25].

Not sure where you stand? Ask us for a free compliance check.