After a backlash from telcos and the handset industry, the government has decided to rescind the existing notification to carry out mandatory testing and certification of existing consumer electronic products by the Department of Telecommunication (DoT).In a statement Saturday, the DoT has exempted mobile phones, smart watches, smart cameras, PoS machines from the ambit of the testing regime, citing regulatory overlap with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). “The exemptions on these widely used products will reduce the compliance burden and will enable the industry to roll out their products faster. It will reduce import delays,” the government said in the press release. MeitY already carries out compulsory registration of specified goods including laptops, wireless keyboards, PoS machines and other electronic equipment under the Electronics and Information Technology (Requirement of Compulsory Registration) Order, 2012. The DoT order for another round of testing was seen as an overlap. Representatives from industries and industry associations highlighted that such overlap acted as a deterrent for timely launch of new products, along with increasing the cost of compliance for the industry. In light of this, the government has exempted mobile user equipment/mobile handsets, servers, smart watch, smart camera, PoS machine from the ambit of the Mandatory Testing and Certification of Telecommunication Equipment (MTCTE) regime. Earlier, DoT had asked manufacturers to mandatorily test and certify equipment capable of being used for telecommunication under the MTCTE regime by January 1, 2023. According to documents reviewed by ET, DoT’s technical wing, the Telecom Engineering Centre (TEC) had decided to bring 5G mobile phones under the phase-5 of MTCTE regime that is set to kick off from January, 2023. However, operators told DoT that the move would hit data consumption, restrict market access and deprive consumers from buying the latest 5G smartphones. Telcos had also warned that any move to test and certify 5G smartphones at local labs would hinder India’s ambition of becoming a global manufacturing base.