How to Choose a Modular Switch Brand

“Modular” is a fitment system, not a quality grade

This is the single most common misunderstanding, and it costs people money. Modular does not mean better. It means the switches, sockets and regulators are separate units that clip into a grid plate, so you can mix them and change them later. A modular switch is not automatically safer or longer-lived than a piano-type one — it is a different way of assembling the board.

Module The unit of width. A 1M switch takes one slot, a 2M socket takes two. Plates come in 1M, 2M, 3M, 4M, 6M, 8M, 12M and 18M sizes.

Grid plate The metal frame behind the visible plate. The modules clip into this, not into the wall box.

What modular actually buys you Change one switch without touching the rest of the board. Change the finish without rewiring. Add a socket later into a spare slot.

What it does not buy you Quality. That comes from the contact material, the standard the product is made to, and whether anyone tested it — which is what the rest of this guide is about.

Start with the licence number, not the brochure

Every other question is secondary to this one. Switches and sockets fall under mandatory BIS certification in India, and a certification is a licence granted to a specific factory to make a specific product to a specific Indian Standard. That licence has a number, and the number is checkable by anyone in about a minute.

Ask for the CM/L number Then look it up on the BIS public licence database and confirm it resolves to that product, that standard and that manufacturer.

An ISI logo with no number Not a certification. It is a printed shape.

“ISI type” or “ISI standard” Deliberate wording that avoids making a certification claim.

The brands you will be choosing between

The Indian modular market has a long tail, but most buyers end up looking at a handful of names. We make KEMPS, VIZA and VIYONA at our own plants in Marol, Andheri East. The other modular ranges you are most likely to be shown include Anchor (Panasonic), Havells, Legrand, GM Modular, Goldmedal, Polycab and Crabtree.

We are not going to rank that list. We make three of those ranges, so our opinion on the others is worth exactly what you would expect, and a manufacturer scoring its competitors is not information. What we can do is tell you what actually separates one modular range from another — the things we look at ourselves when we design a range, and which are checkable on any brand including ours.

Apply every question below to us too If a criterion only works when pointed at someone else, it is marketing, not a criterion.

What is actually inside the switch

The visible plate is the part you choose in the shop and the part that matters least. What decides whether a switch is still working in ten years is the contact — the piece of metal that carries current every time it is pressed.

Silver or silver-alloy contacts What a mains switch should use. Silver resists the pitting that arcing causes.

Contact rating A 10 AX switch is rated for capacitive loads such as LED drivers; a plain 10 A rating is not the same test.

Thin brass at the socket contact This is where cheap accessories fail. Under a sustained 16 A load an under-specified contact heats, and heat at a live connection is how fires start.

Weight in the hand Crude but useful. Two switches of the same size and very different weights do not contain the same amount of metal.

Will the range still exist in five years?

Almost nobody asks this, and it is the question most likely to cost you. A modular board is a long-lived install. When one switch fails in year six, you need a replacement module that fits the plate you already have — not a redesign of the whole board.

Ask how long the range has been in production A range that has run for years is more likely to run for more.

Ask what happens when it is discontinued Is the grid plate carried forward? Do modules from the replacement range fit the old plate?

A range launched this season with a new plate geometry Attractive, and the hardest to get spares for later.

A dealer who stocks the range deep Worth more than the brochure. If your local counter carries it in depth, spares are a walk away rather than an order.

Finish choice is where modular earns its price

This is the legitimate reason to pay more for modular. Because the plate is separate from the mechanism, the same switch can sit behind very different finishes, and you can change the finish later without touching the wiring.

Ask to see the board Finishes photograph badly and vary under shop lighting. Switches sell off a display board because pressing the rocker tells you more than a catalogue page.

Check the finish is available in every module size you need A range that offers a finish in 2M and 4M but not 6M forces a mismatch on the bigger boards.

Count your modules before you choose anything

Most board problems are arithmetic, not brand. Work out the module count per location first, then choose, because it changes which plate sizes you need and sometimes which range can supply them.

Add up the modules Each switch, socket, regulator and indicator takes 1M or 2M. Total them per board.

Leave a spare slot One spare module per board is the cheapest future-proofing there is. Adding a socket later into a spare slot is trivial; adding one to a full plate is a rewire.

Check the wall box The metal box already in the wall constrains the plate size. A 6M plate does not fit a 4M box without cutting. Our guide to modular plate sizes gives the device widths and a worked count for a typical bedroom board.

Buying plates before counting The commonest reason a board comes back to the counter.

Our switch board guide works through the count room by room.

Where the product is actually made

A brand name on a box is not a factory. Some ranges sold in India are made by the company whose name is on them; others are manufactured by a third party, sometimes imported and rebadged. Neither is wrong, but it changes who you are dealing with when something goes wrong.

A named plant you can visit The strongest answer. We make ours at our own plants in Marol, Andheri East, Mumbai — this is what that looks like.

“Marketed by” on the box Means the seller is not the maker. Ask who the maker is.

Full manufacturer address on the packaging Legally required, and its absence tells you something.

Why it matters Traceability. A certification is tied to a factory, so if you cannot identify the factory you cannot really verify the certification.

Price: what you are comparing when you compare two switches

Two modular switches with the same rating can differ by a factor of three. Some of that is finish and brand, and some of it is material you cannot see. The useful move is to compare the whole board rather than the headline switch price.

Compare a whole board Same module count, same finish tier, both quotes including plates.

A price far below everything else Certification, testing and correct contact material all cost money. A price well under the market is telling you which was skipped.

We publish MRP openly on every product page, which makes that comparison possible — see the catalogue.

The questions worth asking any brand, including us

Take these to whichever counter you are standing in. A brand that answers all seven without hedging is telling you something; so is one that cannot answer the first.

1 What is the CM/L licence number for this switch, and which IS is it made to?

2 Who manufactures it, and where is the plant?

3 What are the contacts made of?

4 How long has this range been in production?

5 If it is discontinued, will modules still fit my plate?

6 Which module sizes is this finish available in?

7 Does my local dealer stock it, or is every spare an order?

Where we fit

Stated once, plainly, so you can weigh it against the criteria above rather than take it on trust.

Three ranges KEMPS, VIZA and VIYONA — 13 plate designs across the two modular ranges, plus switches, sockets, MCBs, LEDs and accessories.

Published licences IS 3854 CM/L-7567794, IS/IEC 60898-1 CM/L-2544151, IS 16102 R-71026514. Check them.

Our own plants Marol, Andheri East, Mumbai. ISO 9001:2015 certified. Not imported, not rebadged.

Over 30 years Manufacturing and supplying through a dealer network across India.

What we are not The cheapest, and not a national retail brand with a showroom in every city. We sell through dealers, which means the counter matters — ask yours whether they stock us in depth.

The short version

If you remember four things from this, make it these.

Check the licence number Not the logo, and not the brochure. It takes a minute on the BIS database.

Count modules before you choose a range And leave one spare slot per board.

Ask about spares in five years A modular board is a long-lived install and the plate is the part you are committing to.

Check fit before mixing brands Module sizing is not standardised across the market; ask whether the plate is built to take other systems.

If you want to go deeper on the board itself, our switch board guide covers plates, sizes and room-by-room counts, and the range guide sets out what sits where across KEMPS, VIZA and VIYONA.