BIS officials seize 317 toys without ISI mark in Hyderabad

HYDERABAD: Officials of the Bureau of Indian Standards conducted searches in the city and seized 317 electric and non-electric toys without ISI mark.
The BIS team searched outlets at City Centre Mall, Banjara Hills and PVR Next Galleria Mall, at Punjagutta, and found that the managements were selling toys without BIS standard specifications. “This is a violation of the Toys Quality Control Order-2020,” said K V Rao, Scientist-E and Head, BIS, Hyderabad.He said action is being initiated against the offenders under the BIS Act 2016.

“Any person who contravenes the provisions of section 17 shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend up to two years, or with fine not less than Rs 2 lakh for the first contravention and Rs 5 lakh for the second and subsequent contraventions,” the official release by BIS stated. It added that BIS has developed 10 specific standards to ensure the safety of children against chemicals and getting hurt. Each standard makes the toys safe from any risks.
Apart from other things these standards also prohibits the use of inflammable materials in toys, restricts the quantity of toxic elements like antimony, arsenic, barium, cadmium, lead, mercury and selenium, etc. These standards apply to toys and child products that are made of plastic, textiles, among other things. It also deals with safety of electric toys and includes the details regarding tests of different kinds of toys . “This is done to ensure that the toys manufactured for children are safe,” said Rao.