Screen protector quality norms to boost India manufacturing, create 60,000 jobs: ICEA

The Central government’s notification bringing screen protectors for smartphones under the Compulsory Registration Order (CRO) creates a significant impetus for domestic manufacturing, an industry body said on Tuesday. The statement from India Cellular & Electronics Association (ICEA) welcomed the amendment that includes screen protectors for smartphones against IS 19348:2025 ‘Glass Screen Protector – Specification’, with effect from April 1, 2027. Screen protectors sold in India – whether imported or made in India – will require BIS registration from April 1, 2027.

Consumers will have the assurance that the product they buy meets a defined Indian Standard and is not a low-quality substitute sold on marketing alone. India will build a Rs 12,000– Rs 16,000 crore quality manufacturing industry for domestic sales and exports by mandating this standard and generate an estimated Rs 2,000 crore in GST revenue. The amendment will also create approximately 60,000 direct and indirect jobs and position India as a global manufacturing hub for quality screen protectors.

The six months to the deadline give domestic manufacturers time to set up lines, qualify their processes against the standard and secure BIS registration before enforcement begins. The screen protector market had become systematically distorted without the mandatory quality control, the industry body said. Sub-standard items are misrepresented as "tempered glass" despite lacking proper tempering. Prices of screen protectors range from Rs 50 to Rs 2,500 with no correlation to actual quality, while unfair trade practices such as under-invoicing and misdeclaration are rampant.

The practice also led to huge loss to the exchequer in terms of GST revenue and lost job opportunities. The industry chamber estimated that India consumes approximately 500 million screen protectors a year, of which more than 90 per cent is currently imported. A mandatory quality regime brings this trade into the formal economy and creates a level playing field for compliant manufacturers, the statement noted.

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