India's Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), under the Ministry of Power, has issued a notice reminding all companies to comply strictly with the rules on displaying BEE star rating labels on e-commerce platforms and at other points of sale, in order to improve energy efficiency transparency and protect consumers.

Product categories

A total of 39 appliance categories are covered by the Standards and Labelling programme, of which 16 are mandatory and 23 voluntary.

Mandatory categories: frost-free refrigerators, direct cool refrigerators, deep freezers, inverter room air conditioners, fixed speed room air conditioners, cassette, floor standing, ceiling and corner air conditioners, light commercial fixed speed air conditioners, storage water heaters, tubular fluorescent lamps, LED lamps, ultra-high definition televisions, colour televisions, distribution transformers, ceiling fans, chillers, and washing machines (semi-automatic, top load and front load).

Voluntary categories: general purpose industrial motors, agricultural pump sets, domestic gas stoves, computers, ballasts, office automation products, agricultural diesel engine driven pumps, solid state inverters, diesel generating sets, microwave ovens, solar water heaters, air compressors, high energy lithium-ion batteries, tyres, side-by-side and multi-door refrigerators, pedestal fans, table and wall fans, induction hobs, solar photovoltaic modules, assembled boilers, commercial beverage coolers, grid-connected solar inverters and refrigeration compressors.

Labelling requirements

All products covered by the programme must meet the specific energy efficiency standards and regulations. BEE verifies labelled products through market sampling.

Under the new rules, all applicable products must display the following clearly and prominently:

1. the BEE star label, clearly visible and legible;

2. the current star rating, displayed at all times for both mandatory and voluntary categories;

3. energy consumption details;

4. the label validity period, as set out in the relevant notice.

Displaying labels for several different models on the same sales unit is strictly prohibited.

E-commerce requirements

For online platforms, BEE requires:

1. the electronic energy label to be included in the product detail page images;

2. the star rating to be shown on the listing page, search results, shopping cart and checkout pages;

3. the platform to provide sorting and filtering by BEE star rating so that consumers can compare energy efficiency easily.

BEE stresses that uncertified products are strictly prohibited from using the energy label, and that any breach carries legal liability under the Energy Conservation Act and other Indian law.