What a GI tag covers, and where its protection stops

Anyone who buys Indian craft for long enough starts to see the letters GI in listings. Kancheepuram Silk, Channapatna Toys and Dolls, Srikalahasthi Kalamkari, Kashmir Pashmina and Bidriware are all registered Geographical Indications, and sellers write "GI-tagged" to tell a shopper that a product is the real thing. Many shoppers also read it as a promise about quality and about how the maker was treated.

The registration does one of those jobs, and it does it through the product's name. It helps to know how the law works, because a buyer who knows what the tag covers can ask a seller better questions.

What a GI is

A Geographical Indication is a form of intellectual property. In India it is governed by the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999, which came into force on 15 September 2003. Section 2(1)(e) defines a GI as an indication that identifies goods as originating in a territory, region or locality "where a given quality, reputation or other characteristic of such goods is essentially attributable to its geographical origin". Section 2(1)(f) includes "goods of handicraft" in the meaning of goods. Darjeeling Tea was the first product in India to receive a GI, according to the Press Information Bureau. The GI Registry's state-wise list of registrations as on 31 December 2025 runs to 684 Indian GIs, and 375 of them are classed as handicrafts.

Under section 11, an application can be made by an association of persons or producers, or by an organisation or authority set up by law that represents the producers' interests. That body becomes the registered proprietor (section 2(1)(n)). The application has to explain how the product's qualities come from its place of origin and include a map of the area. Rule 32 of the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Rules, 2002 also asks for the production standards, the mechanism for maintaining them and the particulars of any inspection structure. Accepted applications are advertised in the Geographical Indications Journal (section 13). A registration lasts ten years and can be renewed (section 18).

Producers of the registered goods can then apply under section 17 to be registered as authorised users, and they are entered in Part B of the register (section 7(3)). Section 21(1)(b) gives an authorised user "the exclusive right to the use of the geographical indication" for the goods it is registered for, and section 21(1)(a) gives the registered proprietor and the authorised users the right to relief for infringement. Section 24 bars the assignment, transmission or licensing of any right in a registered GI, so the right to use the name cannot be sold or licensed to another business.

What the registration gives a buyer

A GI tells a buyer that the craft has a defined home and a written description of how it is made. The Press Information Bureau's August 2026 note on GIs gives Channapatna as an example. Its recognition "applies only to wooden toys made in Karnataka's Channapatna region", and "the toys must be produced using the region's distinctive lacquerware art". The characteristics a buyer should look for are the ones the registration was granted on, so the published application is a good place to learn what the product should look like.

The registration also gives producers legal tools against imitation. Under section 22(1), a person who is not an authorised user infringes a registered GI by using it in a way that misleads buyers about where the goods come from, or in a way that amounts to unfair competition, including passing off. Section 66 requires infringement suits to be filed in a district court or above, and section 67 lets the court grant an injunction and either damages or an account of profits. Falsely applying a GI to goods is an offence under section 39, and selling goods carrying a false GI is an offence under section 40, each punishable with imprisonment of six months to three years and a fine of ₹50,000 to ₹2 lakh, although a court may go below those minimums for special reasons recorded in the judgment. Both sections allow defences, including that the accused acted without intent to defraud (section 39) or took reasonable precautions and had no reason to suspect the GI (section 40). Section 50(3) makes these offences cognizable. Section 20(1) adds that nobody can sue for infringement of a GI that is not registered.

Two sections deal with the seller directly. Section 59 says that where a GI is applied to goods on sale, the seller is deemed to warrant that it "is a genuine geographical indication and not falsely applied", unless the seller states otherwise in a signed writing delivered to the buyer at the time of sale. Section 42 prohibits representing an unregistered GI as registered. Since 1 August 2024, after the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023, the sanction under section 42 is a penalty of half a per cent of turnover or ₹5 lakh, whichever is less.

What the registration does not do

Buyers often read more into the label than the law puts there. A GI registration is not any of the following.

A grade for the item in front of you. The application sets standards for the product, and some registrations name an inspection structure. The registration itself attaches to the name and the area, and it does not certify that a particular sari or toy meets those standards. A piece from the right town, made by the registered method, can still be poorly made.
Proof that a listing is accurate. Typing "GI-tagged" into a product description costs a seller nothing. The Act gives remedies once a claim turns out to be false, under sections 40, 42 and 59, and none of them tells a buyer in advance whether a claim is true.
A promise about pay or working conditions. The Act has no provision on what the maker is paid. For handicrafts, the definition of producer in section 2(1)(k) covers anyone who makes the goods and "includes any person who trades or deals in such production, exploitation, making or manufacturing", so a trader can register as an authorised user alongside the artisans.
A mark you can check at the point of sale. The Registry's Part B list of authorised users, as on 15 May 2025, has 34,569 entries across all registered GIs, and the Press Information Bureau reports that the number grew from 365 in 2015 to 29,000 by January 2025. No section of the Act requires a seller to show an authorised user certificate or registration number on the goods or in a listing.

How to use it when buying

None of this makes a GI worthless. It is a starting point for checking a piece, and the checking falls to the buyer. A workable order is as follows.

Read the registration. The GI Registry's public search lists every application and its details, and the Geographical Indications Journal carries the published applications. Compare the piece in front of you with the description and method the registration rests on.
Look at the object. The marks of the real process, such as hand irregularities, the material, the reverse side and a price that fits the labour, tell you more about one piece than the label does. The buyer's guides on this site set out these tests craft by craft.
Ask for provenance. A seller who sources from a known cluster can name the village or town, the cooperative or workshop, and often the maker. If the seller says the maker is an authorised user, ask for the registration certificate, which section 16(2) provides for and section 17(3) applies to authorised users, and check the name against the Registry's Part B list.
Check pay and conditions separately. If fair pay is your reason for buying handmade, look for sellers and cooperatives that say how artisans are paid. The GI registration does not address it.

A Geographical Indication protects a product's name and ties it to a place and a defined method. It gives the producers who register a right to act against misleading use of that name, and it gives a buyer a published description to check a piece against. Whether a particular piece is well made, accurately described and fairly paid for is outside what the registration certifies.

Sources

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