The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has announced a sharp reduction of up to 95 per cent in the security test evaluation fees for telecom and information and communication technology (ICT) products. Effective from August 01, 2025, this revised fee structure under the Communication Security Certification Scheme (ComSec) is aimed at making the security certification process more affordable for domestic manufacturers especially micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
The security test evaluation fees, previously ranging from Rs 0.2 million to Rs 0.35 million depending on the equipment category, have now been drastically reduced. Under the revised structure, fees for group A equipment drop to Rs 0.01 million from Rs 0.2 million, group B to Rs 0.02 million from Rs 0.2 million, group C to Rs 0.03 million from 0.25 million, and group D to 0.05 million from 0.35 million. This will significantly reduce the financial strain on telecom/ ICT product manufacturers, including domestic players.
Meanwhile, for government research and development institutes, such as centre for development of telematics (CDOT) and Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC), all security test evaluation fees are fully exempted for applications submitted for product certification until March 31, 2028, as part of a wider effort to encourage innovation in public sector research.
Further, the DoT has simplified the security testing and compliance process for highly specialised equipment (HSE) and end-of-sale/end-of-life telecom products.
Currently, products like internet protocol (IP) Routers, Wi-Fi customer premises equipment (CPEs), and 5G core session management function (SMF) are subject to mandatory security testing, while optical line terminals (OLT) and optical networking terminals (ONT) are subject to voluntary security certification, with fee exemptions applicable until August 31, 2025. Applications and fee payments can be processed via the mandatory testing and certification of telecommunication equipment (MTCTE) portal.
Additionally, the National Centre for Communication Security (NCCS), under DoT, has been mandated to implement security testing and certification under this scheme. As per the updated framework, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), importers, and dealers who wish to sell, import, or use telecom equipment in India must ensure their products undergo security testing and certification under the ComSec scheme.
Further, the test evaluation fee varies based on four equipment groups (A to D), based on the time and complexity involved in testing the equipment or evaluating test reports. The list of telecom/ICT equipment includes routers, mobile core equipment, base stations, satellite communication equipment, transport equipment, CPEs and SIM cards.
