Selling Footwear Online: Two Orders, One Shoe
Footwear does not have one Quality Control Order. It has two, split by what the article is made of, plus a third for occupational safety footwear. Which one your SKU sits under decides the standard, the mark and the paperwork.
- Footwear sits under two Quality Control Orders, not one. S.O. 1421(E) covers leather and other materials, S.O. 1422(E) covers all rubber and all polymeric material and its components. Both were made by DPIIT on 15 March 2024 and both came into force on 1 August 2024.
- Sports footwear is in the leather order against IS 15844, which is itself split into Part 1 general purpose, Part 2 performance and Part 3 professional. The tables name trade categories, so matching each SKU to a row is the first job, not an afterthought.
- The exemption for micro and small manufacturing units under section 7 of the MSMED Act, 2006 attaches to the factory, not to the brand or the seller. Moving production to a larger unit changes your compliance status without changing the product.
- The legacy stock deadline has moved twice, most recently to 31 July 2027 by S.O. 3038(E) and S.O. 3037(E) of 12 June 2026. The relief still only reaches stock declared under section 18(4) of the BIS Act before the orders commenced.
A helmet has one Quality Control Order and one standard. Footwear has two orders split by material, a third for occupational safety footwear, and twenty-four table entries between the first two. Before any certification mechanics matter, you have to find the row your shoe is on.
How a Quality Control Order works, what Scheme-I of Schedule-II means and why a licence attaches to a factory rather than a brand is set out in helmet and protective gear BIS certification. This post assumes that and goes to what is specific to footwear.
Two orders, split by material
DPIIT made both on 15 March 2024, under sub-sections (1) and (2) of section 16 read with sub-section (3) of section 25 of the BIS Act, 2016.
S.O. 1421(E) is the Footwear made from Leather and other Materials (Quality Control) Order, 2024. S.O. 1422(E) is the Footwear made from All Rubber and all Polymeric Material and its Components (Quality Control) Order, 2024. Each supersedes its 2022 namesake, each carries twelve table entries, and each came into force with effect from 1 August 2024. The split is by material, not by use, so a safety boot can sit in either depending on construction.
The tables name trade categories, not merchandising categories
The leather order runs from leather safety boots and shoes under IS 1989 through canvas shoes and canvas boots under IS 3735 and IS 3736, safety boots for miners under IS 3976, two direct moulded sole categories under IS 11226 and IS 14544, high ankle tactical boots under IS 17012, anti-riot shoes under IS 17037, and shoes for services and for general purpose under IS 17043.
Sports footwear is in that order, against IS 15844, and it is not one standard. Part 1 is general purpose, Part 2 is performance, Part 3 is professional. A running shoe and a court shoe can land on different parts.
The rubber and polymeric order holds most everyday Indian volume: sandal and slippers under IS 6721, hawai chappal under IS 10702, gum boots under IS 5557, PVC industrial boots under IS 12254, polyurethane boots under IS 16645, municipal scavenging footwear under IS 16994, and four outsole and sheet components.
Safety, protective and occupational footwear under the IS 15298 series sits elsewhere again, under the Personal Protective Equipment (Quality Control) Order, 2020, which reaches footwear through that series. Both 2024 tables also end with the same note: the latest version of the Indian Standard, as amended, applies. A revision moves under you without a new order.
The carve-out attaches to the factory
Clause 2 of each order carries three provisos. Nothing applies to goods meant for export. Nothing applies to micro and small manufacturing units as defined in section 7 of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006. And there is a legacy stock window, below.
Read the second proviso carefully, because it decides whether any of this reaches your brand. The exemption follows the manufacturing unit, not the brand name and not the seller of record. Source from a micro or small unit and the order does not reach that production. Move the same design to a larger unit for capacity and it does, with no change to the product.
Dates here have moved more than once. An older Bureau explainer still describes a phased inclusion under the previous regime, small units from 1 January 2024 and micro units from 1 July 2024. The 2024 orders that superseded that regime carry the carve-out with no date attached. Work from the order in force, not a summary of one already superseded.
The legacy stock clock, and why 2027 may not be yours
As notified, both orders let a manufacturer who was certified by the Bureau, or had applied, and who declared its old unmarked stock under sub-section (4) of section 18 of the BIS Act before commencement, sell that declared stock up to 30 June 2025.
A DPIIT order of 30 August 2024 moved that to 31 July 2026. DPIIT amended both orders again on 12 June 2026, by S.O. 3038(E) for the leather order and S.O. 3037(E) for the rubber and polymeric order. The Press Information Bureau release of 9 July 2026 puts it plainly: clearance of legacy stock moves from 31 July 2026 to 31 July 2027, on the reasoning that footwear is seasonal and inventory sits in the chain beyond one selling cycle.
The date moved. The gate did not. The relief still runs to stock declared before the orders commenced, by a manufacturer already certified or already in the queue. Stock that was never declared does not acquire a 2027 runway because the deadline was extended. Before planning a clearance calendar around July 2027, check what was filed in July 2024.
Two open doors, and the paperwork on each
Goods meant for export are outside both orders. That one is simple.
The component door is narrower. The rubber and polymeric order lets four items in without the mark when used in manufacturing footwear in India for export only: moulded rubber outsoles, microcellular rubber sheets for outsoles, moulded PVC outsoles and polyurethane outsoles. The importer self-declares on letterhead, quoting the invoice number and stating the soles are not for domestic sale. The Council for Leather Exports then certifies that the importer is a registered manufacturer exporter, quoting a valid Registration-cum-Membership Certificate number, the Udyam Registration Certificate number and the Bill of Entry for home consumption filed in the customs electronic data interchange system.
The 12 June 2026 amendments opened a third door, for design work. Manufacturers of leather and footwear products may import up to 4,500 pairs a year for research and development and other non-commercial purposes. Per the same PIB release, those samples must be prominently marked and embossed NOT FOR SALE, must not be sold, must be scrapped after use, and year-wise records kept for the Government.
What the mark looks like on the product
The Bureau product manual for IS 15844 puts the Standard Mark legibly and indelibly on each shoe and on the outer packaging for each pair. The package also carries the licence number in CM/L form, the month and year of manufacture, the name and address of the manufacturer, and a line pointing to the Bureau website.
The same manual sets the control unit for sports footwear at 50,000 pairs or a fortnight of production, whichever is earlier, of the same category and material combination from one consignment. That is what your batch records have to line up with when a platform asks, and where those records live is covered in product safety documents for a marketplace audit.