Legal Metrology: License and Certification
We at VINCULAR provide a one stop solution for all types of licenses and certification from Indian Legal Metrology Department.
Introduction to Legal Metrology
The application of legal requirements to measurements and measuring equipment is known as legal metrology. It is a division governed under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution in India and is a part of the Department of Consumer Affairs. This division became operational following the notification of the Legal Metrology Act of 2009 on January 31, 2011, and its implementation on April 1, 2011. Legal metrology’s goal is to provide the public with a guarantee about the security and precision of weights and measurements.
Product category under Legal Metrology
Legal Metrology Registration scheme involves different types of products which are categories as below:
Weight & Measurement Products
All those products which are being used in any kind of weights & measurements such as weighing scales, Infrared thermometer, Blood Pressure measurement machine, length measurement instruments, capacity measuring instruments, fuel dispenser, electronic scales & Tank Lorries etc. are considered as weight and measurement Products
Products other than the weight and measurement equipment such as electronic gadgets, consumer durables such as TV, AC etc. as well as non-durable goods like Cleaning Products, Cosmetics, etc. are all examples of non-weight products. If certain products are offered in the pre-packaged form in the market, their responsible Importer/Manufacturer/Packer must get a packaged commodity certificate from the Legal Metrology Department.
Non-Weight Products
Types of licenses and certificates under Legal Metrology
Model Approval under Section-22
A manufacturer or importer of any weight, measure or measuring instrument shall obtain approval of model from the Director of Legal Metrology, GOI. For the process of approval of models, testing of particular product will take place in any of the authorized RRSL/NPL lab and subsequent test results will be sent to the LM department. The certificate of model approval will be made available once all conditions are fulfilled.
The individual, firm or legal entity that brings weights & measurements goods from a foreign country into the Indian customs territory will require the Import license from Legal Metrology Department.
Import License/Registration under Section-19
Dealership License under Section-23
A company must obtain this license, if they indulged in the trading, buying, selling and distribution of weights and measures product.
A repairer is a person/entity who repair, adjust, clean, lubricate, paint and perform all other maintenance services to ensure that weighing or measuring product complies with standards of Legal Metrology Act. As per Legal Metrology Rules, Repairers of weights and measures must apply for license to the Controller of Legal Metrology of the state under the State Legal Metrology Enforcement Rules, 2011.
Repairer License under Section-23
Stamping & Verification
Once applicant is done with obtaining all the applicable registrations for their weight and measurement products then, they can certainly apply for the verification & stamping of weight or measure products. Verification is the process of comparing, checking, testing or adjusting a weight or measure to ensure that it conforms to the standard. Before using such products for protection and trading purposes, they must be verified by a legal metrology officer.
Those goods that are offered in the market in a pre-packaged form whether or not they are intended for use as weighing/measuring products or non-weight products. The Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules apply when a product is put in a package of any kind, has a predetermined amount, and was packed without the purchaser being present.
I- Manufacturer & Packers
II- Importer
III- Packers
I- Manufacturer & Packers
II- Importer
III- Packers
Package Commodity Registration under Rule-27 (Applicable for both Weight and Non-weight Products)
Label requirements under package commodity
The followings are the mandatory declarations required on the label/packaging of pre-packed commodities are available for sale in open market:
Generic Name of the Product
Manufacturer/Importer/Packer Name and Complete Address with Full Pin Code
Customer Care Number & e-mail ID
Quantity/Volume/Net Weight: In (Number, Unit or any other word which represents the quantity) in Matric Notation i.e. kg, g, l, ml etc.
In case of Imported Goods Country of Origin
Month & Year of Manufacturing
Size in cm/m where needed
Maximum Retail Price (in Indian Currency) e.g: ₹ xx.xx (Inclusive of all taxes)
Unit Sale Price where needed
Manufacturer/Importer/Packer Name and Complete Address with Full Pin Code
Customer Care Number & e-mail ID
Quantity/Volume/Net Weight: In (Number, Unit or any other word which represents the quantity) in Matric Notation i.e. kg, g, l, ml etc.
In case of Imported Goods Country of Origin
Month & Year of Manufacturing
Size in cm/m where needed
Maximum Retail Price (in Indian Currency) e.g: ₹ xx.xx (Inclusive of all taxes)
Unit Sale Price where needed
FAQs
Legal Metrology treats units of weighment and measurement, methods of weighment
and measurement and weighing and measuring instruments, in relation to the
mandatory technical and legal requirements which have the object of ensuring public
guarantee from the point of view of security and accuracy of the weighments and
measurements
Yes, the offences committed under the packaged commodities Rules are
compoundable.
“Pre-packaged commodity” means a commodity which without the purchaser being
present is placed in a package of whatever nature, whether sealed or not, so that
the product contained therein has a pre-determined quantity.
Sale means transfer of Property in any weight, measure or other goods by one person
to another for cash or for deferred payment or for any other valuable consideration
and includes a transfer of any weight, measure or other goods on the hire-purchase
system or any other system of payment by installments, but does not include a
mortgage or hypothecation of, or a charge or pledge on, such weight, measure or
other goods.
Any contract, whether for sale, purchase, exchange or any other purpose, or
Any assessment of royalty, toll, duty or other dues, or The assessment of any work done, wages due or services rendered.
“Protection” means the utilization of reading obtained from any weight or measure,
for the purpose of determining any step which is required to be taken to safeguard
the well-being of any human being or animal, or to protect any commodity,
vegetation or thing, whether individually or collectively.
“Label” means any written, marked, stamped, printed or graphic matter affixed to,
or appearing upon any pre-packaged commodity.
Net quantity in relation to commodity contained in a package, means the quantity by weight, measure or number of such commodity contained in that package, excluding
the packaging or wrappers.
In relation to a package means the total surface area of package where the
information required under these rules are to be given in the following manner:
(i) All the information could be grouped together and given at one place; or
(ii) The pre-printed information could be grouped together and given in one place and on line information grouped together in other place.
(i) All the information could be grouped together and given at one place; or
(ii) The pre-printed information could be grouped together and given in one place and on line information grouped together in other place.
“retail dealer” in relation to any commodity in packaged from means a dealer who
directly sells such packages to the consumer and includes, in relation to packages as are sold directly to the consumer, a wholesale dealer who makes such direct sale to
the consumer.
“Institutional consumer” means the institution which buys packaged commodities
bearing a declaration ‘not for retail sale’, directly from the manufacturer or from an
importer or from wholesale dealer for use by that institution and not for commercial
or trade purposes.
“Industrial consumer” means the consumer who buys packaged commodities directly
from the manufacturer or from an importer or from wholesale dealer for use by that
industry and the package shall have declaration ‘not for retail sale.
Retail sale Price means the maximum price at which the commodity in packaged form
may be sold to the ultimate consumer and the price shall be printed on the package
in the form of Maximum Retail Price.
All kinds of soaps, lotions, Cream and Camphor
In case of a package having a capacity of five cubic centimeters or less, the principal
display panel may be a card or tape affixed firmly to the package. If the area of a
package is more than ten cubic centimeter the principal display panel should comply
the provisions of Rules (Table-I)
Applicant may apply for relaxation under rule 33 of the Legal Metrology (Packaged
Commodities) Rules, 2011.
Yes, the Rules are applicable both to imported packages as well as the indigenous
packages
The Rules provide that all the information required under the Rules either printed on
the package itself or on a label affixed thereto. Therefore, given all the information
on a single label affixed on the package is not prohibited. However, giving individual
information likes date of manufacture or retail sale price etc. by affixing individual
sticker is prohibited under Rule 6(2). However affixing individual sticker is not
prohibited for declaring reduced MRP provided that the MRP declaration made by the
manufacture shall not covered.
Giving any information in addition to the mandatory information required under the
Rules is not considered violation.
Registered Importer, in India, is responsible in case of imported packaged.
No, Rules covered only pre-packaged commodities.
Yes, under sub-rule (3) of rule 6 of the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities)
Rules, 2011 a commodity may be sold at a price lower than MRP.
No, under sub-rule (5) and (6) of Rule 18 of the Legal Metrology (Packaged
Commodities) Rules, 2011 no one can alter the price once printed.
No, under Rule 18(2) of the Rules ‘No retail dealer or other person including
manufacturer, packer, importer and wholesale dealer shall make any sale of any
commodity in packed form at a price exceeding the retail sale price thereof’.
All pre-packaged commodities except otherwise exempted from the rules are covered
under the Rules. The exemption is given for Drugs, fast food items and packaged
commodities sold in the packages upto 10g or 10ml.
The following declarations are required to be given on all pre-packaged commodities
meant for retail sale:
i. Name and address of manufacturer/ packer & manufacturer (if manufacturer
is not packer)/ importer,
ii. Country of origin if imported
iii. Common, generic name of the commodity
iv. Net qty. in std. unit of W or M or no. of commodity in the package
v. MRP incl. of all taxes
vi. Unit sale price (w.e.f. 01.10.2022)
vii. Month and year of manufacture *(or pre-packing or import) (except food articles, Seeds and cosmetics) (*Omit w.e.f. 01.10.2022)
viii. “Best before or use by date, month and year” in case of commodity becoming unfit for human consump
i. Name and address of manufacturer/ packer & manufacturer (if manufacturer
is not packer)/ importer,
ii. Country of origin if imported
iii. Common, generic name of the commodity
iv. Net qty. in std. unit of W or M or no. of commodity in the package
v. MRP incl. of all taxes
vi. Unit sale price (w.e.f. 01.10.2022)
vii. Month and year of manufacture *(or pre-packing or import) (except food articles, Seeds and cosmetics) (*Omit w.e.f. 01.10.2022)
viii. “Best before or use by date, month and year” in case of commodity becoming unfit for human consump
Yes, e-mail address is mandatory.
Yes, e-mail address is mandatory.
No. There is no requirement that there shall be a label pasted on the package
covering the entire PDP area. The Principal Display Panel denotes the area, which is
40% of the total surface area in case of cylindrical surfaces excluding top, bottom
and flanges, where all the mandatory declarations have to be made. All the
information (a) can be grouped together and given at one place or (b) the pre-printed
information of declaration can be grouped together at one place and online
information can be grouped together at a different place. Both sets of information
however, should be printed in a font size as prescribed in the rules.
Yes, Principal Display Panel prescribes where the mandatory declaration is to be given
and does not restrict the right of the manufacturer / packer / importer to utilize the
left over space for other declarations / promotions.
Unit sale price means the sale price (inclusive of all taxes) per specified unit of
weight, measure or number.
The unit sale price shall be declared on the principal display panel of the prepackaged commodity.
As per Rule 6, sub-rule 11, the unit sale price shall be rounded off to the nearest
two decimal places.
In case where the unit sale price is a whole number, it may be declared without
decimal places.
Unit sale price is not required to be declared on a ‘Wholesale Package’, defined
under Rule 2(r) of the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011.
The requirement of declaring the unit sale price is limited to product itself. As
per Rule 31(1), in an advertisement with the MRP, net quantity needs to be
declared.
As per Rule 6 sub-rule 10 of the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities)
Rules, 2011, the e-commerce entity is required to ensure mandatory declaration as specified in Rule 6 sub-rule 1. Accordingly, the unit sale price is not required
to be displayed on e-commerce websites.
As per the second proviso to Rule 6 sub-rule (11) declaration of unit sale price
is not required for the pre-packaged commodities in which retail sale price or
MRP is equal to the unit sale price
As per the proviso of Rule 9(3), no declarations on the inner package is
required, the outer package contains all declarations required under these
rules
The Unit Sale Price is required to be declared, however, the Unit Sale Price
computation shall exclude the additional volume/ quantity/ units being provided
for FREE.
The Unit Sale Price is required to be declared on pack intended for sale, however,
the Unit Sale Price computation shall exclude the value of pack being provided for
FREE. There is no requirement of declaring Unit Sale Price on Free pack.
The Unit Sale Price is required to be declared on pack intended for sale,
however, the Unit Sale Price computation shall exclude the value of pack being
provided for FREE. There is no requirement of declaring Unit Sale Price on Free
product.
Yes, retail packs with net weight or measure of 10 ml/10g or less are exempted
from Unit Sale Price declaration in alignment with exemption presently mentioned
under Rule 26 of the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011.
The letter case for MRP prefix ‘inclusive of all taxes’ may be in small or upper case.
The numeral size requirement is applicable only for MRP value printed and not for
the prefixes ‘MRP Rs.’ and suffix ‘inclusive of all taxes’
For food products which are governed by FSSAI Rules & Regulations, the 3
declarations viz. MRP, Net Weight and Consumer Care Details will be made as per the
provisions of Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011.
All the letters and numerals of the consumer care details should be as per the
provisions of the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011.
As per Rule 27 of the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011 time
line for registration as manufacturer/ packer/ importer is within ninety days from the date
on which he or it commences such pre-packing
An E-Commerce entity shall ensure that the mandatory declarations as specified
in sub-rule (1) of rule 6, except the month and year in which the commodity is
manufactured or packed, shall be displayed on the digital and electronic network used
for e-commerce transactions.
