IS 4151:2015, Protective Helmet for Two Wheeler Riders: versions, amendments, products, BIS tests, fees and the ISI mark

IS 4151 is the Indian Standard for protective helmets for two-wheeler riders, and the helmet QCO makes it compulsory^[1]. It sets requirements for materials, sizes, construction, field of vision, mass and performance in impact and retention tests^[7].

BIS's portal lists IS 4151:2015 (Fourth Revision), an indigenous standard with two amendments, kept by committee CED 22^[2]. Like IS 2347 for pressure cookers, it has no IEC or ISO twin, so ECE or DOT certificates do not replace it.

We do not reproduce the standard's text; BIS sells it. This page covers what BIS publishes about how it is used in certification, with links to the helmet QCO and the helmet import guide.

IS 4151 is the product standard; BIS's portal cross-refers supporting standards for headforms and sampling^[2]. The helmet's packaging, battery and label bring their own rules.

Check the licence, the scope, the marking, the visor, the test report and the factory. Do this before you pay a deposit, not at the port.

IS 4151:2015 with two amendments applies. The QCO names the 2015 edition^[1], the December 2024 product manual uses it with two amendments^[14], and the portal lists two amendments^[2].

The order applies the latest version with amendments from the date BIS notifies them^[1], so a helmet must meet the amended standard, not just the 2015 base text. Note that BIS's 2021 marking fee notification listed "IS 4151:1993", while its 2026 list shows only "IS 4151"^[14]; the fee is the same.

The long changeover to the 2015 edition. BIS first asked licensees to move to IS 4151:2015 by 15 January 2019, then extended the date to 15 April 2019, 15 July 2019, 15 October 2019 and 31 March 2020^[15]. After a further extension to 29 December 2020, the final date became 30 April 2021^[16], a month before the QCO itself took effect on 1 June 2021^[1]. In short, the industry had almost three years' notice of the test regime that the order then made compulsory for every helmet sold, imported or stored for sale. Anyone still holding pre-2021 stock or test reports to the 1993 edition should treat them as unusable: the 1993 edition is withdrawn^[2].

Amendment No. 2 removed the maximum mass limit for helmets and changed the marking clause to add the model/design and the helmet's mass to the nearest 50 g; it had to be implemented by 4 September 2020^[12].

The practical effect is on the licence. Because model/design became part of the marking, licensees had to submit model and design details for every type and size so BIS could endorse them in the scope of licence^[12]. A helmet whose model name is not in the scope cannot carry the mark^[11].

Helmets for riders of two-wheeler motor vehicles need IS 4151: motorcycles, scooters and mopeds^[1]. That includes full-face, open-face, modular and half helmets made for those riders.

The order lists no HS codes^[1]. Protective helmets are normally classified under HS 6506.10, safety headgear, as reported in HS nomenclature^[19], a subheading shared with bicycle, industrial and sports helmets, which are outside the order's wording. That is why classification alone does not answer the BIS question; check with the HS code approval finder.

BIS tests 9 helmets plus 3 m of chin strap for each model, type and size covered^[4]. The test programme covers^[7]:

• Materials: shell, protective and comfort padding, retention system, corrosion of metal parts, and the visor (impact, penetration, flammability, optical errors, light transmission).
• Sizes and construction: headform sizes, shell, padding, retention system, peripheral vision, workmanship and mass.
• Performance: impact absorption, rigidity, projections and surface friction, dynamic test of the retention system, audibility, detaching test, chin-strap micro-slip and abrasion, and quick-release mechanisms.
• Conditioning: solvent, ambient, heat at 50 deg C, cold at minus 20 deg C, and ultraviolet with moisture.

BIS's laboratory system lists IS 4151:2015 test charges from Rs 14,000 to Rs 55,000, excluding taxes^[5]. The portal counted only 6 laboratories against the standard on 1 November 2026^[2], so lab slots can be tight.

Because each model, type and size is a variety^[4], a range of three sizes in two types can mean six test sets. BIS's Central Laboratory has had a full IS 4151 facility, except for visors, since November 2020^[18]. Compare labs on BIS labs and Delhi NCR labs.

BIS checks that the factory can control every day's output. A control unit is helmets of the same model, type and size made under similar conditions in a day^[20].

The dynamic retention and detaching tests are recommended on every control unit with in-house equipment, while impact absorption may be subcontracted^[20]. BIS's December 2025 circular now allows shared or sub-contracted testing and treats the manual's testing scheme as recommendatory^[21], but a helmet line that cannot test retention daily will struggle to show control.

Inspection costs Rs 7,000 per man-day^[13]. After grant, BIS makes surprise visits and buys marked helmets for testing^[13].

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways' helmet QCO, S.O. 4252(E) of 26 November 2020, makes IS 4151 mandatory^[3]. It came into force on 1 June 2021^[1].

The order has no MSME, R&D or old-stock relief; only goods for export are outside it^[1]. BIS's Scheme-I list showed no amendment or rescission on 1 November 2026^[22]. Check dates with the QCO deadline checker or the QCO tracker.

Through BIS's Foreign Manufacturers Certification Scheme, which covers every product except MeitY-notified electronics^[23]. The foreign maker applies, not the importer^[24].

BIS gives about six months as the average FMCS grant time^[26]. Each extra variety costs Rs 5,000 to include^[27], and helmet ranges often have many sizes, so list them all at the start. See BIS FMCS and FMCS fees.

Most problems are scope and marking, then enforcement. Reports of an October 2024 national drive said 162 helmet licences had been cancelled or had expired and 27 raids had taken place^[17].

These examples add BIS's published fees to listed lab charges and assume one inspection man-day for illustration.

1. Large Indian maker, one model in three sizes. Three variety tests at Rs 14,000 each^[5] = Rs 42,000. Add application Rs 1,000, one man-day Rs 7,000, licence fee Rs 1,000^[13] and the Rs 46,000 minimum marking fee^[6]: Rs 97,000 before GST.

2. Volume check. At Rs 0.45 a helmet, the actual marking fee passes the Rs 46,000 minimum above about 1,02,223 helmets a year^[6]. A BIS grant letter, as reported, says the higher of the two is payable^[29].

3. Micro enterprise. The minimum falls to Rs 9,200^[6], so one model in one size with a Rs 14,000 test totals Rs 32,200 in BIS-plus-lab fees.

4. Foreign factory. Domestic fees plus Rs 10,000 contingency and officer travel^[27], a USD 10,000 guarantee^[26], and Rs 5,000 for each variety added later^[27].

See BIS ISI licence costs and the compliance cost estimator.

The seller is liable too, not just the factory. The BIS Act's definition of "person" includes importers, distributors, retailers and sellers^[30], and section 17 bans storing or exhibiting for sale notified goods without a valid mark^[30]. Where a company offends, its responsible directors and managers are also deemed guilty^[30].

Before listing on Amazon or Flipkart, keep a file with the licence, the scope page showing your exact model and sizes, and photos of the marking on the shell^[4][12]. Manakonline offers a licence search you can use to confirm the licence is live^[31]. Re-check every time the supplier changes the shell, visor or padding, because a new model or size needs to be in scope first^[4].

A worked case: a seller imports 2,000 full-face helmets in sizes M, L and XL from a licensed factory, but the scope lists only M and L. The XL helmets cannot carry the mark^[11], so the factory must add XL by inclusion (Rs 5,000 per variety under FMCS^[27]) before that part of the order ships. Use our checklist before listing on Amazon to keep the file complete.

Yes, if the factory itself holds an IS 4151 licence under FMCS; the country does not matter, the licence does^[23]. The licence is for one factory address^[13], so a trading company's brochure listing several plants is not enough: each plant that makes your helmet needs its own licence.

BIS tests only to the Indian Standard and only in India^[24], so plan for samples to be couriered to an Indian lab and for about six months to grant^[26]. Our China import guide and Vietnam guide cover the shipping and customs side.

Selling or importing helmets without a valid Standard Mark breaches section 17 of the BIS Act^[30], punishable with up to two years' imprisonment or a fine from Rs 2 lakh up to ten times the value of the goods^[30].

BIS can order a recall of non-conforming marked goods^[30], and CCPA's first Safety Notice warned buyers against helmets without a valid ISI mark^[32]. Press reports of a December 2025 Lok Sabha answer cite seizures of over 2,500 uncertified helmets from 9 makers^[33]. See selling without BIS.

• Plastic packaging EPR, because importers of any commodity with plastic packaging are covered^[8] and register on CPCB's portal^[8]. See plastic EPR.
• LMPC registration for retail packs, on our reading of Rule 27^[34], at Rs 500^[35], with the Legal Metrology declarations^[36]. See LMPC.
• Battery EPR for smart helmets^[9]. See battery EPR.

The approval checker lists approvals product by product.

The QCO requires conformity to IS 4151 and the Standard Mark under a Scheme-I licence^[1]. BIS requires^[4]:

• the Standard Mark, clearly and indelibly on each helmet;
• marking per clause 9 of IS 4151:2015;
• the text "For BIS certification details please visit www.bis.gov.in";
• for visors, the maker, year and a traceability code, plus a printed care card.

The CM/L licence number goes with the mark, preferably below it^[37]. Fees: Rs 46,000 minimum a year for a large firm (Rs 37,000 medium, Rs 23,000 small, Rs 9,200 micro) and Rs 0.45 a helmet^[6]. See ISI mark fees, ISI renewal and the ISI mark, or ask for a free compliance check.

• The Department of Consumer Affairs letter on the helmet drive and the Lok Sabha answer could not be opened; those figures are from press reports^[17][33].
• A July 2025 statement reported 176 licensed makers, while the portal showed 155 licences on 1 November 2026^[33][2]; they count different things at different dates.
• We could not read the December 2024 product manual's full grouping rules, so ask your lab how it will group your sizes and shells before you book tests^[14].