Selling fake external hard drives to become difficult in India
What's the story
The Indian government has decided to bring external hard disk drives (HDDs) under a safety and registration regime. The move, announced by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), is aimed at curbing counterfeiting in the electronics hardware market. The decision comes after industry concerns over the authenticity of external storage devices.
Regulation
New regulation amends 2021 EITG order
The new regulation amends the Electronics and Information Technology Goods (Requirement of Compulsory Registration) Order, 2021. It mandates all standalone HDDs to meet Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) safety benchmarks starting November 5, 2026. The move is aimed at ensuring the quality and authenticity of external storage devices in India.
Market issues
Concerns over counterfeit external drives
A senior government official said to Moneycontrol that the move was prompted by concerns over the quality of external storage devices. They noted that while internal hard disks are generally safe, the market for external drives has been plagued by "refurbished, duplicates..." An industry source confirmed that several counterfeit and duplicate products were being sold in this category.
Positive response
Industry welcomes new regulation
The notification has been well-received by the industry, which had previously approached the government with concerns over counterfeit and duplicate products. The new regulation replaces "Standalone Hard Disk Drives" in the compulsory registration list and mandates all covered drives to comply with IS 13252 (Part 1): 2010, an Indian standard for safety of IT equipment.