What are Essential Requirements (ERs) under TEC's MTCTE scheme, and how do you meet one?

Essential Requirements (ERs) are the test specification for one family of telecom equipment under MTCTE. The MTCTE procedure defines them as the set of parameters, standards, requirements and specifications TEC specifies, which must be met to get certification^[1].

Each product family has its own ER document with a TEC number and a YYMM suffix for its year and month of release. Tracking devices are TEC2873YYMM, and equipment in the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands is TEC5943YYMM^[1].

An ER can contain EMI/EMC, safety and technical requirements set by TEC, security requirements set by DoT or NCCS, and other requirements notified by a government agency^[1]. The full scheme is explained on TEC MTCTE.

In the MTCTE procedure, now backed by the Telecommunications Act, 2023. MTCTE operates under the Telecommunications (Framework to Notify Standards, Conformity Assessment and Certification) Rules, 2025, G.S.R. 315(E) of 16 May 2025, made under section 19 of the Act^[2].

Those rules replaced rules 528-537 of the Indian Telegraph Rules, 1951, but existing ERs, conformity assessments and exemptions continue until a new notification supersedes them^[6]. So an ER issued before May 2025 still applies today.

TEC and NCCS are the Appropriate Authorities under the 2025 rules^[2].

An ER bundles several kinds of test in one document. Which parts apply depends on the product.

Anyone who makes or imports a product notified under MTCTE. No notified telecom equipment may be sold, deployed or used in India without a valid Certificate of Conformity Assessment^[2].

A foreign brand certifies through an Authorised Indian Representative, an Indian firm importing its equipment, which registers on the MTCTE portal with an MoU or affidavit and the brand's authorisation^[7].

Mostly network and connectivity gear, not ordinary gadgets. TEC's July 2024 annexure lists 197 product variants across Phases 1 to 5^[4]; the full list is on MTCTE products.

Yes, in a narrower sense. CCTV cameras and recorders under BIS CRS must meet 'Essential Requirement(s) for Security of CCTV' in addition to the Indian Standard^[10]. That is a BIS security requirement inside the BIS CRS scheme, not a TEC ER.

If someone says 'ER' about a CCTV camera, ask which scheme they mean.

You register on the MTCTE portal, file the application, test the model against the ER shown, upload parameter-wise reports and receive the certificate. DoT's MTCTE page sets the order: user registration, profile registration, product details and bill of materials, application and certification^[5].

Under the General Certification Scheme, TEC evaluates the test reports and normally issues the certificate in 4-8 weeks; under the Simplified Certification Scheme, it does not evaluate reports and normally issues within fifteen working days^[3].

From 1 January 2024, TEC moved most notified products to SCS, including routers, modems, 2.4/5 GHz equipment, IoT gateways, tracking devices and SIMs^[11]. Lab time comes on top of these windows.

TEC charges only an administrative fee for ER-based applications since 1 January 2024^[11]; testing is paid to the lab.

Take an importer certifying one Wi-Fi access point and one router.

• Access point: 2.4/5 GHz equipment is Group B, Rs 20,000^[3].
• Router: Group C, Rs 30,000^[3]. SGS India publishes a router test charge of Rs 85,000, excluding taxes^[12].
• Total TEC fees: Rs 50,000, plus lab charges for each model.

The access point also needs a WPC Equipment Type Approval for its radio^[8]. Start-ups and micro and small firms can claim back part of testing charges, up to 75%, 60% and 50% respectively, under a DoT scheme effective 5 March 2025^[13]. Full budgets are on MTCTE certification costs and MTCTE fees.

A revised ER takes effect from a stated future date; until then the old ER applies. A revision does not generally affect certificates already issued, but applications filed after the date of effect must meet the amended ER^[1].

Revisions matter most at renewal. A certificate is renewed only if neither the ER nor the model has changed^[1]. If the ER moved on, expect fresh testing rather than a paper renewal.

Normally ten years for a regular certificate and two years for a provisional one^[3]. Apply for renewal at least two months before expiry^[1]; renewal costs the group's administrative fee^[1].

With the TEC certification label and the product's identity details. The OEM must mark equipment sold in India with the brand name, trade name, model name and serial number, and the TEC logo with 'MTCTE' and the certificate number; for a foreign OEM, the AIR must make sure this is done^[1].

The TEC logo must be at least 6 mm high and a quarter of the height of the brand name. It may be engraved, embossed or printed, and products with an integrated display may use an e-label. The user manual must also state that the product conforms to the relevant TEC Essential Requirements^[1].

The general duty to display standard details, including the certificate, comes from the 2025 rules, with the detail in Annexure-D of the procedure^[2].

Equipment imported for R&D, demonstration, sample testing or a regulatory sandbox, and equipment brought in for personal use, is exempt from conformity assessment^[2].

Some items are outside MTCTE altogether: spare cards, modules and transceivers such as SFPs, faulty units imported for repair, and re-used equipment with the same model and serial number^[1]. TEC has also granted time-bound relaxations, such as a generic GPS parameter exemption until 31 December 2024^[14].

Sometimes. The 2025 rules allow a foreign Conformity Assessment Body to be recognised if it is ILAC-accredited and not in a country that shares a land border with India^[2]. Separately, TEC has accepted ILAC-accredited lab reports as a time-bound relaxation, except for parameters that must be tested in India, and only if no older than two years^[3].

A TEC notice of December 2025 reportedly extended some of those relaxations to 30 June 2026^[15]. For safety, a BIS-recognised laboratory report is accepted^[3].

You get a notice to stop sale, distribution or use within seven days. To resume, you can certify within 180 days by paying ten times the normal fee, and the authority may seek seizure or destruction^[2].

Telecom operators must also give users of uncertified notified equipment seven days' notice and then suspend their service^[2].

• Testing to an old ER. If the ER is revised before you apply, you must meet the amended version^[1].
• Foreign lab reports. TEC accepts ILAC-accredited reports only as a time-bound relaxation and not for parameters that must be tested in India^[3].
• Renewing after a change. A changed ER blocks plain renewal^[1].
• Documents locked after filing. Documents generally cannot be changed after submission^[1].
• Missing label. The manual must say the product conforms to the relevant TEC ERs, and the TEC logo must be at least 6 mm high^[1].
• Assuming ETA covers it. A WPC ETA does not replace MTCTE; see WPC ETA vs MTCTE and WPC ETA.

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