Watt’s Inside: Refrigerators, ACs, TVs to get new labels revealing energy use, brand details, and more

Kolkata | New Delhi: Air-conditioners, refrigerators, televisions, washing machines and other appliances will soon sport new energy efficiency labels with detailed product information and traceability, to encourage consumers to choose energy-efficient products and reduce cases of fake claims of star ratings, people aware of the development said.

The label will clearly specify the product's country of origin and its energy consumption in easy language to help consumers make an informed choice, besides a unique serial number and QR code, they said.

The new 'Bureau of Energy Efficiency (Appliance Labelling) Regulations, 2025' will establish a comprehensive framework governing the display of essential information on labels, the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) under the power ministry said in a notification dated July 10.

Industry executives said the current energy efficiency labels do not contain so much information and are not that consumer friendly. There have also been cases where BEE has found some companies making false claims on energy efficiency. The intention of the new labelling system is to ensure consumers choose models which are low in power consumption to save energy, they said.

Apart from common household appliances, manufacturers also need to fix these labels on deep freezers, chillers, ceiling fans, geysers, solar photovoltaic modules and some commercial products.

The new regulation will also establish the "process for applying for and granting permission to affix such labels and to provide for compliance testing and label fees," the BEE notification said. Companies must ensure these labels are prominently displayed at retail stores and on the products.

BEE has already proposed to repeal old rules on the design of labelling on certain white goods such as refrigerators, air conditioners and televisions.

"There is a revision going on regarding label design. There are altogether five notifications on that," a government official said.

BEE currently fixes the energy efficiency norms for household and commercial appliances under a star rating system, with the five star being the most energy efficient while the one star least. These ratings are revised periodically, in every 2-4 years, to tighten the energy efficiency standards.

As per BEE, labels under the new norms should display a unique number of label, equipment name, brand name, model number, energy performance parameter, label year, rated capacity, star level, validity, country of origin and serial number of the appliance. There will be a QR code as well.

Earlier this month, ET reported that the power ministry is working on a plan to push customers to replace their 10 years or older air-conditioners with new five-star energy efficiency rated ones at below-market prices by offering them scrapping benefits.