SECURITY UPDATE has been consistently documenting the upheaval triggered by the STQC certification mandate for CCTV systems. Our April 2025 cover story, “STQC Certification Requirement Order Monopolises the CCTV Industry in India,” analysed MeitY’s unwavering decision to enforce the 9 April 2025 deadline under the IoT System Certification Scheme (IoTSCS), despite repeated appeals from the industry. This was followed by our July 2025 report, “STQC Fallout: Policy Rollout Leaves India’s CCTV Industry Paused,” which captured the immediate shockwaves felt across the market, ranging from supply disruptions to widespread uncertainty among manufacturers and integrators. Now we bring you the System Integrator’s perspective.
In April 2025 cover story, SECURITY UPDATE reported how the government’s new STQC Directorate mandate, under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY)’s IoT System Certification Scheme (IoTSCS), would dramatically reshape India’s CCTV market. The regulation requires all internet-connected CCTV cameras and video recorders to meet stringent cybersecurity and safety standards, the “Essential Requirements (ERs)”, by April 9, 2025, or be withdrawn from sale. The result: as of the deadline, only four manufacturers (covering just a few dozen certified camera models) were licensed to market compliant devices nationwide.
With over 80% of India’s CCTV hardware reliant on imported components, often from China, and a large base of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), the rule had triggered widespread uncertainty. Many SMEs lack resources for costly certification, threatening their survival. The article warned that this regulatory shock may lead to market consolidation, reduced competition, and higher prices. Further, there were concerns about affordability and accessibility, especially in semi-urban and rural markets, as well as potential for a grey-market revival.
In calling for a more balanced approach, SECURITY UPDATE and industry associations had urged phased implementation, transitional support for SMEs, and stakeholder consultations to safeguard both national security and the diversity of India’s CCTV ecosystem.
The full article can be read here:
https://securityupdate.in/stqc-certification-requirement-order-monopolises-the-cctv-industry-in-india/
This story was followed by our July 2025 report, “STQC Fallout: Policy Rollout Leaves India’s CCTV Industry Paused,” which captured the immediate shockwaves felt across the market, ranging from supply disruptions to widespread uncertainty among manufacturers and integrators. In this follow-up report, SECURITY UPDATE chronicled the deepening crisis in India’s CCTV industry following enforcement of the Standardisation Testing and Quality Certification Directorate (STQC) mandate. The article documented how the regulatory shift had triggered widespread disruption: the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) had issued mass licence-cancellation notices to non-compliant manufacturers, causing projects to stall, inventories to become unsellable, and foreign OEMs to remain in regulatory limbo.
Despite earlier warnings by SECURITY UPDATE, manufacturer and integrator appeals for flexibility went unheard, and the industry has paid the price. Notably, certified players are limited to a handful of camera models, leaving demand severely unmet. Several reports show approvals lagging far behind applications (only 35 out of 342 by May).
The article also highlights the silence from major global brands, despite repeated outreach for their input, indicating a lack of transparency and communication in the transition.
The result is a near-standstill: stalled tenders, frozen projects, evaporating sales, and a fractured market where only a few certified firms continue to trade. The fallout emphasises a broader concern: that while the mandate aims to harden cybersecurity, its aggressive rollout has undermined the industry’s ability to function. As the article argues, without immediate course correction, the STQC initiative risks centralising the CCTV ecosystem instead of safeguarding it.
The full article can be read here:
https://securityupdate.in/stqc-fallout-policy-rollout-leaves-indias-cctv-industry-paused/
Seven months on, SECURITY UPDATE turns its attention to electronic systems integrators, the frontline professionals responsible for sourcing and deploying CCTV systems across public- and private-sector projects. In this part of our feature series, we capture their ground-level experiences to understand how the STQC mandate is reshaping procurement dynamics, project timelines, and overall delivery frameworks.
To build a clearer picture, we posed two fundamental questions to leading electronic systems integrators:
- Since the STQC mandate took effect, what challenges have you faced in procuring compliant CCTV cameras for ongoing or upcoming projects?
We invited them to reflect on issues such as limited certified options, supply delays, cost escalations, vendor uncertainty, documentation hurdles, and tender-related disruptions. - How have these procurement constraints influenced your project execution cycle — including system design, budgeting, client communication, and contractual obligations?
We sought real-world examples where specifications had to be revised, timelines renegotiated, or client expectations re-aligned due to STQC-related bottlenecks.
Below, we present the insights they shared, candid assessments that reveal the continuing operational impact of the mandate on India’s surveillance ecosystem.
Mr. Roop Singh Kuntal, Managing Director of Amron Associates Private Limited, is an NCR-based systems integrator whose company works with leading brands such as Ganz, Panasonic, Honeywell, Comnet, Sharp, and Hikvision (as listed on its website). Amron delivers video surveillance solutions across a diverse portfolio of clients, including several specialised government projects.
Since the STQC mandate came into effect, what specific challenges have you encountered in procuring compliant CCTV cameras for your ongoing or upcoming projects?
Since the STQC mandate came into effect, the procurement process has become significantly more complex. The primary challenge has been the limited availability of certified makes and models in the market. Many established vendors were initially unprepared for the transition, resulting in uncertainty and delays in supply chains. This scarcity has led to price escalations, as compliant models command a premium compared to non-certified alternatives.
Another major hurdle is documentation and product evaluation. STQC certification requires detailed technical compliance checks, and vendors often struggle to provide complete documentation promptly. This has caused disruptions in tender timelines, as evaluation periods have extended beyond initial estimates. In some cases, tenders were floated on CPWD Delhi Schedule of Rates (DSR), but the BOQ items did not match STQC-compliant models. Consequently, tenders had to be reissued or recalled, or decisions were delayed because shortlisted products failed to meet certification and client BOQ requirements.
How have these procurement constraints affected your project execution cycle — including design choices, budgeting, client expectations, and contractual commitments?
These procurement constraints have had a cascading effect on project execution cycles. Design choices have been revisited multiple times to align with the limited range of compliant products. For example, in one recent project, we had to rework specifications for camera resolution and analytics features because certified models did not support the originally planned configurations.
Budgeting has also been impacted. The price increase of 15–20% or maybe more for STQC-compliant cameras forced us to renegotiate budgets with clients, which was not always easy. In one case, a government project required an extension of timelines because the vendor could not deliver certified cameras within the agreed schedule. This led to client dissatisfaction and contractual amendments, as the delay affected other dependent activities like network setup and integration.
To manage these challenges, we have adopted a proactive approach by engaging with vendors early, maintaining a buffer in timelines, and educating clients about the mandate’s implications. While these steps help mitigate risks, the transition has undeniably introduced complexity and uncertainty into procurement and execution processes. Overall, our business turnover has been impacted, and operational expenditure has increased as we strive to meet other statutory compliances for our staff such as timely disbursement of salaries, and their ESI, EPF, and other related obligations, difficult to manage without consistent project flow.
Mr. Santosh Kamble, is the Founder and Managing Director of NexGen Integrated Systems Pvt. Ltd., a focussed system integrator headquartered in Mumbai doing end to end physical security solutions by partnering with world renowned brands to provide latest technology with years of diverse experience in Networking, Security-Surveillance, Access control, Perimeter Intrusion Detection Systems, Gate automation, Video Management and Analytics,
Since the STQC mandate came into effect, what specific challenges have you encountered in procuring compliant CCTV cameras for your ongoing or upcoming projects?
The STQC move aims to ensure cybersecurity, protect data, and enforce supply-chain integrity, something that was a real concern given reliance on cheaper, often foreign-made cameras with opaque firmware or cloud dependencies. Over time, as more manufacturers adapt and more models get certified, the market should stabilize — but right now in this transition phase there are challenges which we need to overcome.
The Key Challenges
Supply-chain bottlenecks and limited availability of cameras: A large share CCTV camera previously sold in India relied on often Chinese hardware or firmware. The STQC rules require strict controls on supply chain, firmware, source-code, and trusted hardware, which disqualify many of those models. Many manufacturers have yet not received STQC certification for their full range of cameras. This has created significant shortages of compliant, certified cameras
Cost escalation, especially for smaller stakeholders: The cost of getting a single base camera model certified has been reported to cost a large sum of money that makes STQC-compliant models expensive or economically non-viable for projects with tight budgets, this price increase can strain the cost-benefit equation, sometimes leading to reconsideration or delay of planned CCTV deployments.
Limited model variety and fewer features / options: Because only a few players managed to get wide-ranging certifications early the market now has fewer choices of compliant cameras compared to before This limitation becomes particularly acute when the project demands specialized cameras, currently available certified models may not meet technical or feature requirements.
Impact on project timelines and uncertainty in procurement planning: Because of the delays in certification, many tenders and projects have been stalled or postponed,
This increased uncertainty makes procurement planning harder.
Longer lead times: procurement are delayed by 2–6 months depending on model availability and backlog. Budget overruns, because compliant cameras are more expensive than older, non-compliant ones.
We face other issues such as, greater complexity in vendor selection, due diligence, and uncertainty about future maintenance and availability of upgraded models.
How have these procurement constraints affected your project execution cycle — including design choices, budgeting, client expectations, and contractual commitments?
When STQC-driven procurement constraints hit a surveillance project, the impact isn’t
limited to buying hardware. It ripples across the entire execution cycle. Here’s how most
integrators, consultants and EPC/security contractors are getting affected end-to-end:
| Project Stage | Impact |
| Design | Constrained engineering choices, revisions |
| Budgeting | Cost escalations, re-approvals |
| Client expectation | More negotiation, resets |
| Contracts | Delays, compliance clauses, renegotiation |
| Execution | Longer timelines, higher risk |
Col. CS Shiv Prasad (Retd.), CPP, CFE, NEBOSH, Country Manager Northland Controls, Headquartered in Silicon Valley, USA is an international systems integrator with offices and staff in many countries that designs, installs, manages and harmonizes physical security systems across the globe with a focus on the highest quality integration and complex, security solutions.
Since the STQC mandate came into effect, what specific challenges have you encountered in procuring compliant CCTV cameras for your ongoing or upcoming projects?As the Country
The new STQC mandate has created major challenges in procuring compliant CCTV cameras for our ongoing and upcoming projects. Our clients operate in high-risk, globally standardised environments and insist on top-tier brands like Axis, Bosch, Honeywell, and Avigilon. They trust these platforms for image quality, cybersecurity, and long-term support, and are not willing to downgrade their standards just to meet the new certification requirement.
Northland Controls works mainly with Global Capability Centres (GCCs), MNC corporate offices, and Data Centres—sectors that follow strict global standards. India is the GCC capital, by some estimates, 67% of the Fortune Global 30 and 174 of the Fortune Global 500 running GCCs here, and around 40 new GCCs are expected to be set up in FY 2025 alone. Naturally, their expansion plans cannot be held back by STQC regulatory bottlenecks.
Since leading manufacturers have yet to obtain STQC certification, most of our clients are choosing to pause CCTV system deployment while moving ahead with other infrastructure components such as Access Control, HVAC, Electrical, and Fire Systems.
Although we have explored alternative options, Northland remains committed to upholding global security standards, and the current mandate has created a significant bottleneck until certified products enter the market.
Some clients are reviewing the limited STQC-approved models as potential substitutes, but none have provided approval to proceed. The prevailing expectation is that leading brands will secure STQC certification within the next two to three months, which is why clients prefer to wait.
How have these procurement constraints affected your project execution cycle — including design choices, budgeting, client expectations, and contractual commitments?
Design flexibility is restricted as clients demand Tier-1 OEM platforms that lack certification, while budgeting suffers from delays and cost uncertainty. Our clients operate uniform global standards and are unwilling to re-engineer architectures or approve substitutes that compromise interoperability across their worldwide footprint. Unclear certification timelines disrupt tenders and contractual commitments, making it impossible to deliver consistent security standards until premium models achieve compliance.
For an organisation like Northland Controls, which is responsible for delivering consistent global security standards across multinational facilities, the current mismatch between regulatory expectations and market readiness has become an operational bottleneck. Until the premium camera models achieve STQC certification, system integrators like us will continue to face procurement challenges, and increased risk of non-alignment with client technology standards.
What emerges from these conversations is a strong consensus: integrators stand ready to support India’s cybersecurity goals, but they need a more responsive framework to work within. Accelerating lab capacities, improving documentation workflows, widening the pool of certified products, and offering transitional guidance could significantly ease the burden on project executors. As the STQC regime evolves, the experiences of integrators must be viewed not as criticism but as valuable feedback, essential for shaping a system that is secure, scalable, and workable for all stakeholders.
