Slippery biz
Why do companies that submit to regulations abroad have a free for all in India? For a start, because it's simply not mandatory for them to do so. India has no regulation to control pollution from detergent use. Southey points out, "Because India does not have specific legislation or regulation to control the amount of phosphorus in laundry detergents, there has been no reduction even on a voluntary basis by the detergent industry.'
The Bureau of Indian Standards (bis), in consultation with the industry, formulated standards for household laundry detergent powders (is 4955:2001). So a bis standard exists, but as this is voluntary, neither the big players like hll, p&g, Henko, Nirma nor even the smaller brands such as Fena or Ghadi have gone in for the same.
Even the bis label is basic, compared to the comprehensive and obligatory European Union Regulations on detergents. European regulation makes it mandatory for manufacturers to clearly state detergent content. The Unilever website that displays content for products sold in the eu is not obliged to do so in India.
As for dosage, the Indian brands do not deal with specificity. Most provide dosage information in terms of