How to use the TEC MTCTE portal: registration, application, fee payment and certificate, step by step

The MTCTE portal is TEC's online system for Mandatory Testing and Certification of Telecom Equipment. Every certificate is applied for, paid for and issued there. DoT describes the process in five stages: new user registration, applicant/OEM profile registration, product details and Bill of Materials (BoM) for pre-check, application submission, and MTCTE certification^[1].

The portal is busy. When we checked on 1 November 2026 it showed 5,552 certificates, 11,533 certified models, 361 registered Indian OEMs and 431 registered foreign OEMs^[1]. It is separate from Saral Sanchar, where WPC Equipment Type Approvals are filed. A Wi-Fi product usually needs both: MTCTE on this portal and a WPC ETA on Saral Sanchar^[5].

Before you register, check that your product is actually notified. See which products need MTCTE.

Two kinds of applicant register: an Indian OEM, or an Authorised Indian Representative (AIR) acting for a foreign OEM. The AIR is an Indian company or firm that imports the foreign OEM's equipment^[2]. A foreign factory cannot hold an MTCTE certificate on its own; it works through its AIR.

The AIR is responsible in India for the equipment it brings in. It must make sure the product is labelled with the TEC certification label^[3]. If you are a trading importer, decide early whether you will act as AIR for the brand, or whether the brand has another Indian entity that will. Two importers of the same model need to agree whose certificate covers the goods. See foreign manufacturers and the AIR glossary entry.

The MTCTE procedure lists the registration documents^[3]:

DoT's MTCTE page summarises the AIR set as a registration certificate, an authorisation letter, an MoU or notarised affidavit with the foreign OEM, and the OEM's letter authorising the AIR^[2]. The shareholding pattern must show citizenship of shareholders^[3], so have it ready in that form rather than as a plain cap table.

Everything must be in Hindi or English. A document in any other language, such as a Chinese business licence, needs a certified English translation uploaded at the same time^[3].

TEC scrutinises the documents and tells you about any shortcoming online. Only after you fix it and TEC approves the registration can you file certification applications^[3]. Until approval, the company name can show blank on your profile^[6]; that is normal.

Upload the document that proves your legal form: a certificate of incorporation for a company, a partnership deed for a firm, or an establishment licence for a proprietorship, plus an authorisation letter for the person doing MTCTE work^[7].

The applicant is the executive named in the company's authorisation letter, entered with his or her designation on the Edit Profile page^[7].

That sounds trivial, but a mismatch between the letter and the profile is an easy reason for TEC to flag the registration^[3]. Keep the same person on the letter, the profile and the login, and remember that one account cannot be used by two people at once^[6]. Formats for the authorisation letters sit in the MTCTE applicant user instructions on the portal's downloads page^[3].

These steps follow the MTCTE procedure (clause 17) and DoT's MTCTE page.

The fee is fixed by the product's group: Rs 10,000 (A), Rs 20,000 (B), Rs 30,000 (C) or Rs 50,000 (D, also used for family certification)^[4]. Since 1 January 2024 only this administrative fee is charged for ER-based applications^[9]. Payment is through BharatKosh/NTRP from inside the application, and it is non-refundable except in limited cases^[4]. The lab bills you separately for testing^[3].

See MTCTE fees for the group of each product and worked examples, and the MTCTE cost guide for total budgets.

It depends on the scheme. Under SCS, TEC does not evaluate the reports and a certificate is normally issued within fifteen working days. Under GCS, TEC evaluates the reports and normally issues the certificate in 4 to 8 weeks^[4]. Most consumer-type products, including trackers, Wi-Fi equipment, routers and IoT gateways, are SCS^[9].

Those times start once a complete application with reports is in. Add the time for TEC to approve your profile, which happens only after any document shortcomings are fixed^[3], and the lab's own testing time. A regular certificate is normally valid for ten years, a provisional one for two^[4].

Only notified telecom equipment does. Wi-Fi access points, IoT gateways and trackers have been mandatory since 1 January 2024, routers since 1 August 2024, and Phase-6 items since 24 August 2025^[5].

Check the full list on our MTCTE products page. A product outside MTCTE may still need a WPC ETA for its radio and BIS CRS for safety; our WPC ETA vs MTCTE explainer sorts out which applies.

The same portal handles changes and renewals:

• Modification without re-testing, such as a change of brand or ownership, and modification with re-testing, such as adding a chassis to a family. Each costs the group fee^[3].
• Provisional to regular certificate once exempted parameters are tested, also at the group fee^[3].
• Renewal, applied for at least two months before expiry, granted only if the ER and model are unchanged^[3].

You do not need to recertify an unchanged model or brand, or for a change in labelling only^[8].

The OEM must mark each unit with the OEM or brand name, the trade name, model name and serial number, and the TEC certification label: the TEC logo with 'MTCTE' followed by the certificate number. For a foreign OEM's products, the AIR must make sure this is done. Labelling is exempt for the first six months from the mandatory date or from the certificate date, whichever is later^[3].

The logo must be at least 6 mm high and one quarter the height of the brand name. It can be engraved, embossed or printed, in the TEC colour (RGB 0,108,156) or black and white. Products with an integrated display may use an e-label, and the manual must say the product conforms to the relevant TEC Essential Requirements^[3]. Under the 2025 rules, everyone to whom a notified standard applies must display the standard details, including the certificate, in the manner TEC specifies^[8].

Usually because TEC has not approved, or has rejected, the profile: a rejected OEM or AIR account shows 'invalid credentials', and a profile awaiting approval leaves the company name blank on a new application^[7].

• Invalid credentials. TEC says the account may have been rejected for improper documents, and the fix is to create a new login with the same credentials^[7].
• Blank company name. Check Edit Profile. Either the profile was rejected or it is still awaiting the admin validator^[7].
• AIR order of work. Submit and get approval for the AIR's own company details first, and only then add the foreign OEM^[7].
• Address rejected. Only @-/,.()*?! are allowed and the field holds 100 characters; abbreviate Road to Rd. and Avenue to Av.^[7]
• Logged out unexpectedly. Two people used one account; simultaneous logins are blocked^[6].

Register a separate MTCTE account for each foreign OEM, each backed by its own MoU or authorisation letter^[7].

This is looser than BIS, where an AIR may normally represent only one foreign manufacturer outside a group of companies^[11]. An Indian distributor that imports routers from two Chinese factories can be the AIR for both under MTCTE, but needs two accounts and two sets of OEM papers. Read more on the role in our AIR glossary entry and the distributor guide.

Use the portal's Product Finder to reach the product and variant, then its Lab Finder to see which designated labs test each parameter^[12].

Testing is against the Essential Requirements at TEC-designated CABs, and security testing against ITSARs at NCCS-designated labs where the product is notified for it^[8]. Two shortcuts can save money:

• Reuse BIS safety evidence. TEC accepts a valid BIS certificate or a report from a BIS-recognised lab for safety parameters^[4], so a router already under BIS CRS need not repeat safety tests.
• Ask for non-applicability. The portal offers proformas to seek non-applicability of some parameters and exemption from submitting reports against some parameters^[12].

ILAC-accredited lab reports may be accepted as a time-bound relaxation, if no older than two years^[4].

MTCTE now runs under the Telecommunications (Framework to Notify Standards, Conformity Assessment and Certification) Rules, 2025, notified on 16 May 2025^[8].

An Indian importer is the AIR for a Taiwanese maker of dual-band Wi-Fi routers. Here is the path and the government fee.

1. Register the AIR company with its certificate of incorporation, authorisation letter, notarised affidavit or MoU, and the OEM's AIR letter^[7]. Wait for approval, then add the OEM^[7].
2. Apply with the product, variant, interfaces, associated models, BoM and data sheet^[3].
3. Pay. A router is fee Group C, Rs 30,000^[4], through BharatKosh; the fee is non-refundable in most cases^[4].
4. Upload reports with a test report summary^[3]. Under SCS the certificate normally comes within fifteen working days^[4].
5. Label each unit with the TEC logo, 'MTCTE' and the certificate number^[3].

The router also needs a WPC ETA for its 2.4/5 GHz radios^[5]. Selling without the certificate risks a seven-day stop notice and a fee of ten times the normal amount to regularise^[8]. See the full budget on MTCTE costs, the importer view in importing from Taiwan, or ask us for a free compliance check.

The MTCTE helpdesk is [email protected] and 011-23329117^[1]. TEC's MTCTE procedure, flowchart, user instructions and the list of notified products are in the downloads on the portal. For WPC ETA questions, use the Saral Sanchar helpdesk instead; see Saral Sanchar.