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SOMETIMES when you switch on the light, the tungsten-filament bulb suddenly bursts with a loud noise and spews tiny glass pieces all around. Besides being an unnerving experience, one can get hurt by the glass. The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) incorporated in its recently revised standards tests that it should be ensured that bulbs do not burst when they fuse at the end of their life. The additional safety features such as the ‘operation to failure’ test and the ‘induced failure test’ are a must. However, unless there is consumer pressure, these features in the revised standards may not be enforced at all. These bulbs, or ‘tungsten filament lamps for domestic purposes’, as they are called, are supposed to last 1,000 burning hours, but in the days prior to compulsory standardisation, bulbs often died prematurely, sometimes after just two or four hours of burning. As bills over bulb purchases mounted, consumer protested against the poor quality of bulbs. The government issued the General Services Electric Lamps (Quality Control) order, 1989, under the Essential Commodities Act, thereby bringing them under mandatory quality certification. Bulbs have subsequently been brought under Electrical Wires, Cables, Appliances, Protection Devices and Accessories (quality control) Order 203 issued under the BIS Act. Now the manufacturers cannot market bulbs without the relevant ISI certification from the BIS. However, tests conducted by Ahmedabad-based Consumer Education and Research Centre in 1993 revealed that despite mandatory certification, bulbs of substandard quality were being sold in the market. Of the nine brands of established manufacturers tested by CERC, five failed to conform to the BIS standards, despite carrying the ISI seal. In fact, four of the brands performed miserably in the life test. As against 1000 burning hours, bulbs of one particular brand lasted just 5-22 hours. The five failed brands also fared badly in the lumen output test and the torsion test meant to ensure that the adhesion of the cap with the glass shell is strong enough to hold them together. Thereafter BIS devised a revised scheme for testing and inspection of samples at the manufacturers’ level as well as in the market. Today as many as 160 manufacturers hold the BIS licence to make and sell bulbs. That’s not enough. The bulbs have to be brought in line with international standards and made safer too. The standard being followed is of 1978 vintage and quite outdated. The standard was first published in 1953, updated in 1957, 1963 and 1978. Finally in May this year, the BIS published the revised standard in line with the international norms. Besides, the earlier tests
for quality and performance such as the life and the lumen maintenance,
energy efficiency and safety tests like protection against accidental
contact, bulb cap temperature rise, the revised standard incorporates
better process control measures at several intermediate stages to ensure
better compliance with quality parameters. The absence of facilities for
conducting these safety tests is holding back the BIS from implementing
the revised standard. BIS is planning a meeting to finalise the date for
the enforcement of these standards. Without consumer intervention and
pressure, this date may get postponed indefinitely. |
