Kerala HC Stay on BIS Quality Requirement For PVC Pipes

In a major relief to the dozens of plastics pipes manufacturers, the High Court of Kerala stayed the provisions incorporated in a government notification which mandated BIS (Bureau of Indian Standard) quality requirement for PVC (polyvinyl chloride) pipes manufacturing in the state. The High Court held, “The provisions mentioned in the notification of the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEF&CC) pertaining to the mandatory registration with the BIS and adhering to its quality standard requirement will not be applicable for the applicant until the final judgment is passed in this case.” As notified by MoEF&CC, registration with BIS would mean PVC pipes manufacturers required to produce ISI (Indian Standards Institutes) grade pipes only by upgrading their plants and machinery for which the manufacturing units would need a massive capital investment worth crores of rupees. Earlier, 40 PVC pipes manufacturers in Kerala, mostly categorized as unorganized sector players due to their low economies of scale, had filed a writ petition under the aegis of All Kerala Small Scale PVC Pipes Manufacturers Association in the High Court of Kerala pledging quashing of the mandatory BIS quality requirement in MoEF&CC notification for PVC pipes manufacturing in the state. The hearing in this case was completed on September 30 and an interim order was passed on Wednesday. However, this order is not applicable for PVC pipes manufacturers in other parts of the country as the stay has been granted specifically to the applicant (40 manufactures of Kerala) in this case.