Published: 10 Sep 2026
BIS Clears the Fog on Wearable Glasses: New CRS Product Categories Explained
Omega QMS Compliance Insights
If you manufacture, import, or sell smart glasses, AR/VR/MR headsets, or audio glasses in India, there’s an important update from the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) that directly affects how you apply for Compulsory Registration Scheme (CRS) certification.
On 13 August 2026, BIS’s Registration Department issued fresh guidance clarifying exactly which product category, sub-category, and product name manufacturers must use when registering “Wearable Glasses” under the Electronics and Information Technology Goods (Requirement of Compulsory Registration) Order, 2021. For an industry that has seen rapid convergence of audio, camera, and display technologies into a single pair of glasses, this clarity is welcome — and necessary.
Why This Guidance Matters
Wearable glasses today aren’t a single product type. A pair of “smart glasses” might just play music and take calls, or it might also snap photos, record video, or project an overlay display in front of your eyes. Each of these capabilities has historically mapped to a different BIS product category — Wireless Earphones and Headphones, Digital Camera, Video Camera, or Extended Reality Products — creating ambiguity for applicants trying to figure out where their product actually belongs.
BIS has now resolved that ambiguity with a clear, feature-based classification ladder.
The Four Categories of Wearable Glasses
According to the circular, wearable glasses must be registered under one of the following, based on their functional capability:
Audio Glasses — filed under Wireless Earphones and Headphones
Devices with Bluetooth or other wireless connectivity, a microphone and speaker, audio calling, music playback, and similar features — including AI-based voice assistants — but no camera.
Smart Glasses (photo only) — filed under Digital Camera
Everything Audio Glasses offer (optional), plus a camera capable of capturing still photographs only.
Smart Glasses (photo + video) — filed under Video Camera
Same as above, but the camera can also record video.
AR Glasses / MR Glasses — filed under Extended Reality Products
Everything Smart Glasses offer (optional), plus an overlay display visible through the lenses — the defining feature of augmented or mixed reality eyewear.
The logic is essentially cumulative: each tier builds on the capabilities of the one before it, with the deciding factor being the most advanced feature the device has — camera type, and ultimately, display overlay.
Extended Reality Gets Its Own Sub-Map Too
BIS didn’t stop at glasses. The circular also lays out how the broader Extended Reality Products category — covering Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, and Mixed Reality devices — should be sub-classified for registration purposes:
- AR Glasses
- Other AR Devices
- VR Headset
- MR Glasses
- Other MR Devices
This means VR headsets and other XR form factors that don’t fit the “glasses” mold now have explicit product names to register under, closing another gap that previously left applicants guessing.
One Rule Manufacturers Can’t Miss
Point 4 of the circular is unambiguous: a separate licence is required for each individual product name listed under the Wearable Glasses and Extended Reality Products tables. In other words, a single registration cannot cover multiple product types — a company offering both Smart Glasses and AR Glasses, for instance, will need two distinct CRS licences, not one umbrella approval.
What This Means for Applicants
For manufacturers and brand owners preparing CRS applications, the practical takeaway is simple but critical:
Does it have a camera? Does it shoot video? Does it project a display? The answer determines your category.
Only products with a genuine overlay display qualify as AR/MR Glasses; a camera-only pair of glasses stays in the Digital or Video Camera category.
Audio Glasses, Smart Glasses, AR Glasses, MR Glasses, VR Headset, Other AR Devices, Other MR Devices — rather than generic marketing terms, to avoid delays or rejection during registration.
The Bigger Picture
This guidance reflects a broader regulatory trend: as consumer electronics converge multiple functions into single form factors, certification bodies are being pushed to define classification not by product form, but by function. For wearable tech companies eyeing the Indian market, staying ahead of these classification nuances isn’t just a compliance checkbox — it’s a factor that can directly affect time-to-market.
At Omega QMS, we help manufacturers navigate exactly this kind of regulatory complexity — mapping product specifications to the correct BIS categories, preparing compliant CRS applications, and avoiding the costly back-and-forth that comes from misclassification.
Need help classifying your wearable device or preparing a CRS application under this new guidance?
Get in touch with our compliance team.