New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has sought replies from the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) on a petition filed by Forever Toy Traders Association against a Central notification pertaining to categorising of toys into non-electric and electric, which mandates toy manufacturers to apply for a licence.
A division bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh will hear the plea on March 19, which wants to get the Toys (Quality Control) Order, 2020 to be quashed. The gazette order dated 25 February 2020 was supposed to come into force from September 1 last year, which mandated BIS compliance for all toys sold across India, and wanted various categories of toys to conform to the standards laid down by the ministry.
The toy traders body has claimed that toy manufacturers were unable to comply with Centre’s order due to the pandemic and a nationwide lockdown. The petition contends that domestic and foreign manufacturers of toys were unable to obtain licenses to comply with the government order due to travel restrictions across the world. Citing travel disruptions since February last year, the petition claims that BIS inspectors couldn’t visit toy manufacturing sites which prevented manufacturers from getting requisite licenses by the government-mandated deadline. Fearing loss of livelihood of toy manufacturers, traders, shopkeepers, wholesalers, distributors and their employees; the body wrote their objections and concerns to Union Minister Piyush Goyal. However, the petition claims that no action has been taken by the ministry which may lead to a complete shutdown of toy manufacturing and shortage of toys in India in near future.