Nearly half the brands of light-emitting diode bulbs and downlighters sold in eight surveyed cities across India breached the consumer safety standards set by the Bureau of Indian Standards, an industry association said on Thursday.

Such non-compliant LED lighting products could carry the risk of electric shocks or fire, members of the Electric Lamp and Component Manufacturers Association (Elcoma) said.

The sample survey by Nielsen for Elcoma found that 47 per cent of LED bulb brands and 52 per cent of LED downlighter brands were Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) non-compliant across the eight cities. Downlighters are primarily used for lighting through false ceilings.

The survey covered 400 electrical retail outlets in Ahmedabad, Bareilly, Calcutta, Chennai, Delhi, Durgapur, Hyderabad and Mumbai.

“Our findings are alarming. The consumers appear to be buying LEDs without being aware of the safety standards prescribed for them by the BIS,” said Sumit Joshi, Elcoma vice-president.

“Products without compliance to BIS standards should be viewed by consumers as potentially hazardous.”

According to the survey, 52 per cent of LED bulb brands sampled in Delhi, 53 per cent in Mumbai, and 41 per cent in Calcutta were non-compliant. In Durgapur, the non-compliance was 28 per cent. In four of the eight cities, more than half the LED downlighter brands were non-compliant. (See chart)

Senior Elcoma executives said such non-compliant brands sold at cheaper prices than brands conforming to BIS standards. The country’s LED market is estimated at Rs 11,400 crore a year.

Elcoma has been urging the government to ensure that all LED manufacturers comply with the standards prescribed by the BIS and the Union ministry for electronics and information technology.

The government has been promoting LED technology as an energy-efficient alternative to conventional incandescent light bulbs and fluorescent tubelights.

A similar survey by Elcoma had in 2017 found that 73 per cent of LED bulb brands and 71 per cent of downlighter brands, sold across 200 electrical retail outlets in four cities, did not comply with BIS standards.

“We’ve expanded our survey to cover more cities and we find that things have not improved much,” Joshi said. “We believe there is virtually no enforcement of standards by the government.”

Sunil Sikka, an advisor to Elcoma, said in a media statement: “These products not only endanger consumers but also cause significant loss to (the) exchequer through (the) non-payment of taxes.”