Indian CB Offers $88 ISO Certs If You Prove You Exist, Claims Full Accreditation

Meet JS Certifications from New Delhi. This plucky certificate mill takes things to a whole new level, by offering ISO 9001 and a dozen other certs based only on the submission of proof that the company exists. Then, they claim to hold as many as six international accreditations.

JS will issue ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and even CMMI certifications without any actual audits, and with no requirements that the companies have any system documentation or evidence. Instead, the company merely requires potential clients to submit some basic proof of existence, like company “letterhead” and a “voter ID card.” Here’s a screenshot from their website:

The cost is a cheap flat rate of only Rs. 6499, or $88 US dollars.

And apparently, they are authorized to do inspections on behalf of the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA), too.

Meanwhile, the company claims to be accredited by six different IAF-member Accreditation Bodies: UKAS, JAS-ANZ, EGAC, IAS, NABCB, and DAC. (The latter changed its name to “EIAC” years ago, but their old logo is still used by mills around India and the Middle East.) Here’s a post that JS Certification tried to make to the LinkedIn ISO 9001 Group, but which I was able to block:

The proliferation of fake certificate mills in India has become a pandemic of its own, as the IAF and its regional body APAC do nothing to stop it. The Indian accreditation body NABCB has promised repeatedly to take action against such mills, but has also failed miserably. There has been little traction with outreach to the Indian government to crack down on the practice, either.

I’ve written to the IAF, APAC, and the accreditation bodies involved, and asked them to take action against JS Certifications. They likely will not. I’ve also asked the IAF and APAC to ramp up their efforts to use their international influence and credibility to work with the Indian government to shut down the mills operating in that country.