Legal Metrology is well known for the application of legal requirements to measurement and measuring instruments. We all are very much aware that legal metrology has a wide role in the entire world wherever we talk about the weights and measurement. It is always covered under Legal Metrology.
There are several rules have been framed under the act by the way of amendments and various changes, some of the amended rules we are going to discuss and given below:
Rules Related to The Package of Commodity
Pre-packaged commodities defined under the act as a commodity without the purchaser being present are placed in a package of whatever nature whether it is sealed or not so that the product contained herein is a predetermined quantity.
As per the legal metrology packaging rules, there is a mandatory LMPC declaration that has to be made on every package which is given below:
The new rules related to model approval legal metrology have been laid down which are as follows:
Indian Institute of Legal Metrology having its branches in various states of India. All the Legal Metrology institutes is a training institute for providing training in the field of Legal Metrology to all the Legal Metrology officers of union territories, the union of India, states, under the administrative control of the legal metrology department.
However, under these rules provision regarding courses to be imparted at the institute has obligatory functions of the institute which includes the qualification of a person to be eligible for admission in the institute in a prescribed manner.
The Government-Approved Test Center rules are framed for the approval of GATC establishment by the private person for the verification of some of the weights and measures in addition to the verification done by the state government officers. The weights and measures prescribed under rules for verification by GATC are as follows:
The wide application of measurement after World war was prompted by the development of electronic technologies and anti-physical measurement into a wide range of new applications with a proliferation of industry-based units for physical quantities. However, a major advance in bringing coherence to this highly diverse and fragmented system was the adoption in 1960 of the international system of units (SI) that established a single unit for each physical quantity fully.
Introduction
An analysis of the total measurement system, especially in the quantitative benefit-cost is bound to fail since our modern society could not function without a systematic way of acquiring measurement data; the value of having a measurement system is incapable. In this article we are going to discuss the role of legal metrology weights and measures for economic analysis.
There are various benefits to the Indian economy of legal metrology as protecting the rights of the consumer plays an important role in the market and if the consumer has confidence in the product and trusts the product it will ultimately increase the economic system of the country and have a positive impact on this thing. Here we are going to discuss a few of the major points where the Indian economy is getting the benefits of the legal metrology system in the country.
Introduction
Introduction
As we all are aware that there is a requirement for changes from time to time to make proper coordination with a world which is moving faster.
The Legal Metrology system has a wider scope than we think, it plays an important role in our day-to-day lives and most people are not even aware of its vital role in their purchasing or dealing in the market. The salient features of the legal metrology act there as follows:
The central government in consultation with the state government and by its notification directs that any power exercisable by or under the legal metrology act or any rule made thereunder not being a power conferred by section 15 relating to appeal or section 52 relating to power to make rules concerning such matter and subject to such conditions as may be specified may exercise also by such officer subordinate to it as may be specified in the notification.
The state government by its notification and after consultation with the central government may make rules to carry out the provision of the legal metrology act. In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the following power such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters:
Subject to the provision of an act the appeal shall lie from every decision or order under sections 15 to 20, section 22, section 25, section 27 to 39, section 41 or any rule made thereunder by a legal metrology officer appointed under section 13 to the director.
Any person whoever being required by or under the legal metrology act or the rules made thereunder to do the followings:
Section 29 of the legal metrology act deals with the penalty coating publishing etc. for nonstandard units by the manufacturer, importer, and Packer of the commodity.
Current Punishment
Current punishment under this section 29 of the act for the second or subsequent offence is imprisonment which may extend up to one year or fine or both.
Proposed Amendments
The proposed amendment for section 29 of the act is the penalty which may increase up to rupees two lacs.
If the compounding is not done after the appeal is a stage then the process of cancellation of a licence issued by the central or state government will be initiated by providing the prior information to the applicant about the initiation of cancellation of license.
Penalty for Contravention in Standard Weights or Measures, Non-Standard Packages Quantity
Section 30 of the legal metrology act deals with penalties under section contravention as standard weights and measures for non-standard package quantity.
Current Punishment
Current punishment under section 30 of the act for a subsequent or second offence is imprisonment which may extend up to one year or fine or both.
Proposed Amendments
The proposed amendment under section 30 of the ACT is the penalty which may increase up to Rupees 2 Lacs.
If the compounding is not done after the appeal stage then the process of cancellation of the licence issued by the central state government will be initiated with information to an applicant.
Section 31 of the legal metrology act deals with the penalty for non-production of documents, or for the production of false documents by the manufacturer, importer, and packer of the commodity to conduct the fraud and to harm the interests of the consumer.
Current Punishment
The current punishment under section 231 of the legal metrology act for second or subsequent offence is imprisonment which may extend up to one year and fine.
Proposed Amendments
Proposed amendment under section 31 of the act is the penalty which may increase up to two Lac rupees.
If compounding is not done after the stage of appeal, then the process of cancellation of the licence issued by the central or state government will be initiated with prior information to the applicant.
Section 32 of the legal metrology act deals with the penalty for failure to get approval by the manufacturer, importer, seller, or packer of the commodity.
Current Punishment
The current punishment for the failure to get model approval by the manufacturer, packer, seller or importer of the commodity to commit a second or subsequent offence is imprisonment which may extend up to one year and with a fine.
Proposed Amendment
A proposed amendment to decriminalise the act under this section is the penalty to be increased up to rupees two lacs.
If compounding is not done after the appeal stage then the process of cancellation of the licence issued by the state or central government will be initiated with informing the applicant about the same.
Read Related Blog: GATC Cerifiacte Under Legal Metrology
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Discussing the legal and upcoming amendments under legal metrology with certain verifying just to save the interest of public and consumer to make aware that in this particular weight and measures is legal when it is verified and stamped.
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Several offences cause a violation under legal metrology. Any person who fails or omits to submit models of any weights or measures for approval commits the violation under legal metrology and shall be liable to be punished with a fine which may extend to twenty thousand rupees.
Now if you look at the silent features of the legal metrology act, there are followers of every unit of legal metrology weight and measure with the basic metric system. These features will be based on the following standards.
While considering the Legal Metrology Rules the government has created four quarters for the facility for the traders and searched four quarters:
The department of legal metrology has control over the manufacturer, seller, and dealer, of weights and measures, weighing and measuring instruments. It is the power of the legal metrology department to issue the LMPC license to the manufacturer, packer, and importer of the commodity. Legal Metrology Department has control over the following:
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The one who keeps an eye on the businesses, Legal metrology for e-commerce websites, LMPC manufacturers, packers, and sellers of the commodity is the legal metrology department.
On May 9th, 2022, the central government created penalties for minor offences committed under the act by the offender for the very first time.
In 2021, the government sent approximately 183 notices to e-commerce firms for violating this provision by not mentioning the country of origin on the website. A heavy fine has been imposed on the e-commerce firms for false offenses committed by them.
The BIS certificate and the LMPC
certificate are provided to the manufacturer, importer, or dealer of the
commodity. It provides authority and provides permission to the manufacturer or
importer of the commodity to sell the commodity to the customers. Obtaining the
certificate ensures compliance with the act and protects the interests of the
consumer.
LMPC registration plays an important role for every business or trade that deals in weights and measures, or pre-packaged commodities in the Indian market. It is important not only for the manufacturer, importer, packer, or seller of the weights and measures, or pre-packed commodities; it also enhances the scope and power of the business or trade in the Indian market.
Legal Metrology packaging rules provide the various provisions related to declarations to be made on the packaging of the commodity. The act provides the various rules and guidelines related to the declarations on various kinds of commodities by the manufacturer, importer, packer, and seller of the commodity. It tells how the declaration on the package has to be made in a certain form. All such provisions of the declarations are given below.
.jpg "The Silent Feature of Weights and Measures Under LMPC")
Establishment of weights and measures based on SI units, as adopted by CGPM and recognized by OIML.
The Legal Metrology Act lays down the procedure for submitting the documents. Any manufacturer, repairer, or dealer who wishes to deal in weights and measures has to submit the documents.
The Prime Minister announced the NIRYAT portal to analyse import-export data, provide stakeholders with convenient access to foreign trade information.
On Thursday, June 23, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the NIRYAT platform, which will only deal with India's import and export analysis. After unveiling the platform prime minister said that the government has created NIRYAT, or the National Import-Export Record for Yearly Analysis of Trade, to give essential real-time data to all stakeholders.
Certain amendments have been proposed to decriminalize the provision of legal metrology, and those proposed amendments include the following areas:.
These disputes are majorly handled by the legal metrology officers of the legal metrology department. But the dispute, which arises because of the use of the wrong weight and measure and with the intent to cheat the customer, is under the IPC and the trial of such offenses is initiated in the court of the magistrate.
Every manufacturer or importer has the LMPC license while dealing in weight and measure in the Indian market. However, the license is valid only for a certain time. Every importer or manufacturer has to get their license renewed from the respective authority, and the renewal of the license takes place from time to time whenever the expiry date of the license is near. There is a certain procedure to get the license renewed through the online mode, also known as the online renewal of a license under the legal metrology act.
There is a specified procedure given for the renewal of the license. The very first step for the applicant, who can be the manufacturer or importer of the commodity, is to apply for the renewal of the license, and the procedure of renewal is given in the following steps:
In the case of auto-renewal, the license will be issued immediately upon the payment of the necessary fee.
As we have mentioned above, in these steps of the online renewal procedure, the applicant has to submit the relevant documents required to get his license renewed. All such required documents to be submitted by the applicant are given below:
All the documents mentioned above are necessary for the applicant to keep them handy so that, without wasting time, he will fill out the application form and submit all the required documents on the portal of legal metrology to get the license renewed.
The applicant should deposit the scheduled license as per the rules and regulations of the state and the guidelines under the act to the subtreasury or bank, and the original challan should be enclosed with the application.
Read More: Power of Inspector of Headquarters of Legal Metrology
The Legal Metrology Act prescribed the fee for the model approval. However, the applicant even paid the fee through the online mode of payment and also pay the online fee for the laboratories for testing weight and measure, or weighing and measuring the instrument.
For every kind of permission, approval, or renewal, the fee is still to be paid by the applicant as per the rules and regulations of the legal metrology act. Under the legal metrology department before taking the model approval or filing the application for the model approval, the applicant must check out their fee for such approval, and it is pertinent to mention that without paying the prescribed fee, the procedure for the approval will not move forward.
The prescribed fee as per the act for testing mechanical types of models of weight and measures is Rs 10,000 and the prescribed fee as per the act for imported or manufactured for protection of measuring instruments is Rs 25,000. However, the application shall be deposited by the applicant with half of the testing fee for testing the substitute material.
There is a proper process to get the model approval by the manufacturer and this is important as there are two methods that differ from each other and totally depend on the fact that the applicant is the manufacturer or the importer.
After completion of all the above steps, the applicant will receive the model approval of waiting measures.
