Obtaining WPC Certificate Equipment Type Approval in India

WPC certificate is a mandatory document required by those who want to promote the import of wireless products in India. The WPC department Wireless Planning Commission works under the guidelines of the Department of Telecommunication to issue the aforementioned certificate in India.

The approval is only granted after it’s tested that the product works under specific frequency bands. Failure to comply with the frequency standards leads to rejection of the application of the WPC import license.

What the products that come under the jurisdiction of the WPC Certificate of Import? While the list of quite comprehensive, the most common products that require equipment type approval by getting WPC certification are as follows:

• Radio Frequency Identification Devices (RFIDs)
• Products with in-built Bluetooth technology.
• Products with in-built Wi-Fi technology.

When we say that approval is required only for products working in certain frequencies, we want to accentuate the point that some license-free bands don’t require any certification. Products such as those fall under the equipment type approval exemption category.

That being said, let’s now look into the WPC certification India process in great detail.

What is WPC Certificate
Wireless Planning Commission exists to keep a watch over the foreign wireless products coming to the country. There are frequencies are reserved for certain equipment that is responsible for shouldering the telecom and the military industry of the country. Thus, it’s the WPC’s responsibility to watch over the frequency within the import products' work. If they are working at the frequency bands that are near ones that are reserved, it can cause interference and can bring harm to the nation. To prevent such incidents of interference from occurring, the Department of Telecommunication has introduced certain guidelines. As per these guidelines, the department has categories three different types of frequency bands:

• Licensed frequency bands
• De licensed frequency band
• License-free frequency bands

The licensed frequency band consists of frequencies that are assigned to certain entities after those entities deposited the mandatory licensing fees. As such bands are assigned ones, the WPC has to protect products from interfering with it.

Equipment type approval is a requirement is a mandatory requirement for those products that work on these “Assigned frequencies”. Approval is only given once it’s verified that the product won’t interfere with the assigned frequencies.

Delicensed frequency band consists of those frequencies that were once assigned to certain entities. However, either those entities of the government have given away or taken away the license respectively. These are the bands that only require a WPC import license through self-certification.

The license-free frequency band consists of frequencies that are assigned to every citizen in India on a non-exclusive basis.

So what is WPC Certificate and how to apply for a WPC certificate.? WPC Certificate full form Wireless Planning Commission Certificate is the equipment type approval needed to import products that work under the licensed and delicensed bands.

The process of getting WPC Certification In India

• Following are the steps one needs to follow to obtain a WPC certificate:
• Testing the equipment: First, the applicant must obtain the Radiofrequency test report of the product from an accredited lab.
• Document preparation: The applicant must create a file and fill it with the documents mentioned below:
• RF test report
• Description of the product
• Online free receipt
• A letter to authorize the consultants to apply on the applicant’s behalf.
• Undertaking.
• Company incorporation certificate.
• Company PAN Card.
• WPC product testing: At this stage, the Wireless Planning Commission conducts radio frequency tests on the product at their in-house lab.
• Grant of license: If the radio frequency test shows the Wireless Planning Commission that the applicant’s product works within the restrictions of DOT, an ETA certificate is issued.

Conclusion
ETA certification is a process that takes a lot of time and requires constant monitoring of the application once it’s filed. Thus, it’s recommended that the applicants consult with WPC experts before filing their application forms.