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Money and its transactions form a very crucial part of our lives nowadays. Everyone here is a consumer and conducts business in various forms with commercial entities. Therefore, to encourage the public’s belief and assure them that the money gets its value as per the established standards, the legal metrology law was brought into action.
“Metrology” is developed as a measurement tool within which ‘Legal metrology’ refers to a branch of law that deals with units of weights and measures in trade and commerce, which may comprise goods sold or distributed. It checks the precision of weights and measures and makes sure that it complies with the Legal Metrology Act and other technical establishments.
What is the Legal Metrology Act?
The legal metrology act, which came into force on 1st April 2011, has been enacted with the purpose of setting standards of weights and measures in conducting the process of trade and commerce and guaranteeing the public security and legal force in goods and services of a seller.
The act very well replaced the Standard of Weights and Measures Act, 1976, and the Standards of Weights and Measures (Enforcement) Act, 1985.
Omission of rule 5 of Amendment to Legal Metrology Act Packaged Commodities Rules 2011
The Department of Consumer Affairs, which comes under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, owns the responsibility to defend the interests of the consumers and buyers. The ministry has dropped Rule 5 of the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities), Rules 2011, which also enunciates the Schedule II and prescribes the box sizes of various commodities.
In place of the omitted provision, another relevant provision has been added to showcase the unit sale price on already packed commodities, facilitating a subtle comparison of the commodity prices at the purchase. By omitting illustrations and making the process of declaration of MRP compulsory in Indian currency, which would also include the taxes, the process has become much easier. This has allowed the manufacturer, packer and importer to subtly declare the MRP on the pre-packaged commodities.
New Provision included in the Amendment to Legal Metrology Act Packaged Commodities Rules 2011
Several new provisions have been included in the Amendment to the Legal Metrology Act Packaged Commodities Rules 2011:
In earlier times, the date, which consisted of the month and year the commodity had been manufactured/ pre-packed/ imported, needed to be printed on the package. Representation from Industry and associations in this respect has been received to remove this ambiguity.
Under the new provisions and rules, the companies manufacturing the commodities will be having freedom in entirety to decide the number of package units a firm sells in the market. Additionally, a considerable change has been made in the regulations as per the law that it will be required to give details about the manufacturing month or year on the imported package commodity. Currently, only the month or date of import is needed to be printed on the import of packaged items.
As per the previous set of rules, such declarations could be symbolised by a ‘N’ or ‘U’ only. But now the quantities can be denoted in terms of the number/unit/ piece/ pair/ set or any other word which determines the quantity present in the package. This will facilitate in removing the lack of clarity of declaration of quantity sold unit wise in pre-packed goods, in accordance with the information provided by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.
The government of India has made rectifications in the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities), Rules 2011 through these 19 items like milk, tea, biscuits, edible oil, flour, bottled water and drinks, baby food, pulses, cereals, cement bags, bread and detergent have been included.
Conclusion
In the context of various types of pre-packaged goods, the type of mandatory announcements printed on the package does also vary depending on the nature of the commodity. Some other complex technology is also included in compliance with packaged commodity rules. The legal Metrology Act attempts to fulfil all the above and tries to maintain the standard procedure for the same.
