WPC

1. Certification Overview

India's Wireless Planning & Coordination Wing (WPC) regulates wireless equipment. All wireless products require WPC approval before market entry. Frequency bands are divided into license-exempt and non-exempt bands. Equipment in exempt bands needs an Equipment Type Approval (ETA) certificate; equipment in other bands needs a license. Both ETA and license holders must be locally registered companies. Applications are based on CE R&TTE or FCC ID evidence under Indian local standards; applications for 2G/3G/4G must be made by mobile network operators.

2. Certification Mark

None
 

3. Certification Categories

Indian wireless approval has two routes: Equipment Type Approval (ETA) and licensing. The route depends on the equipment's operating frequency band.
1. Equipment Type Approval (ETA): For license-exempt bands such as 13.56 MHz, 433 MHz, 2.4 GHz and 5.725–5.825 GHz.
For ETA, products do not need to be sent to India for local testing. India recognizes European standards, and an R&TTE report may be submitted to WPC for approval. WPC issues a certificate following report review.

2. Licensing: For non-exempt bands, such as those used by GSM and WCDMA mobile phones.
Licensing requires compliance with Indian standards.

4. Product Scope

Equipment containing radio transmitters, including GSM or WCDMA mobile phones, WLAN equipment such as Wi-Fi devices, Bluetooth devices, ZigBee devices, WiMAX equipment, RFID devices, contactless smart card readers and products incorporating other RF transmitters. Receive-only equipment, such as GPS devices, does not require a WPC certificate.

5. Certification Process

1. Obtain the product's CE-RED report before applying; samples are not required.
2. The customer's importer applies to WPC for an account and password.
3. Submit the RF report and other relevant documents to WPC.
4. WPC reviews the documents and issues a certificate if no issues are found.

6. Certification Timeline & Validity

Timeline: 3–4 weeks. Validity: No fixed expiry.