In today’s bustling marketplace, ensuring fair trade and consumer protection is imperative. Legal metrology, the science of measurement, is pivotal in upholding standards and preventing unfair trade practices. However, the Legal Metrology Violations Advisory persists, posing challenges to both consumers and businesses.
Why Does The Legal Metrology Department Send Violation Notices?
The Legal Metrology Act of 2009 is a consumer law enacted to protect consumers. This law has a broad impact on almost all industries involved in the provision of goods and services. The Legal Metrology Act addresses the following issues:
Regulation of weighing & measuring instruments in India
ELT’s Legal Metrology Lawyers and Consultants are well-read and subject experts. They are aware that the Legal Metrology Department typically sends a Notice of Violation for noncompliance with the aforementioned regulations.
In India, there has been a violation regarding the packaging of pre-packed commodities. Normally, any product purchased by a consumer is in pre-packaged form, which is subject to the provisions of the Legal Metrology Pre-Packaged Commodities Rules (LMPCR), 2011. Manufacturers, importers, and e-commerce operators are frequently receiving Notices from the Legal Metrology Departments of various states, pointing out violations of labeling rules.
The LMPCR requires certain mandatory declarations to be included on the package of Pre-Packed Commodities, such as the name and address of the manufacturer, the month and year of manufacture, the Maximum Retail Price, Customer Care details, net quantity and size, the name of the product, and so on. The declarations that must be made differ depending on the product.
The declarations for imports differ from the declarations for manufacturing. Every year, the Central and State Governments issue lakhs of notices under the LMPCR, which is also a source of significant revenue for the government. If you receive a notice from the Legal Metrology Department alleging a violation of labeling rules, you should always consult a lawyer before admitting guilt and should always try to explore other legal remedies and options available to you.
Violation Of Weighing And Measuring Instruments In India
If you work with weighing and measuring instruments and have not complied in any of the following ways:
- Unauthorized importation of weighing and measuring instruments u/s 19.
- Using weighing and measuring instruments without a valid model approval under section 22
- Without a license, it is illegal to manufacture, repair, or sell weights or measures.23.
- Non-compliance with the verification and stamping of weights or measures under section 24.
- Any other violations specified by law.
Penalty And Imprisonment Provisions In The Legal Metrology Law
The Act established various types of monetary penalties as well as provisions for imprisonment in one or more of the following cases:
- Penalty for using an improper weight or measure
- Penalty for changing the weight and measurement
- Penalty for producing or selling non-standard weights or measures
- Penalty for engaging in any transaction, deal, or contract that violates the prescribed standards.
- Penalty for quoting or publishing non-standard units, etc.
- Penalty for transactions that violate standard weight or measure
- Penalty for failure to produce documents, etc.
- Penalty for failing to obtain model approval
Penalty for using an unconfirmed weight or measure - Penalty for selling or delivering commodities, etc. using a non-standard weight or measurement
- Penalty for providing services using a non-standard weight, measurement, or number
- Penalty for selling non-standard packages, etc.
- Penalty for violation by a government-approved testing facility
- Penalty for non-registration of weights and measures by importers Penalty for bringing in non-standard weights and measures
- Obstruction of the Director, Controller, or Legal Metrology Officer Penalty for providing false information or submitting a false return
- Penalty for verification in violation of the Act and rules
- Penalty for falsifying seals, etc.
- Penalty for producing weights and measures without a license
- Penalty for repairing, selling, or using without a license
- Penalty for license tampering
How Should The Legal Metrology Department’s Notices Be Handled?
Dealing with Legal Metrology Notices is difficult for the average person. When dealing with these Notices, there are several things to keep in mind. To put it another way, each state has its own Legal Metrology Enforcement Rules, and you must be familiar with the rules of the state from which you received the Notice. Furthermore, it is important to note that under Legal Metrology, many offences have serious consequences if committed a second or subsequent time.
Furthermore, it is important to note that under Legal Metrology, any offence committed by the business entity is punishable for each Director, for which you must strategically plan on whom you can cast the blame; you can consult Legal Metrology Lawyers for advice on this. Before admitting an offence after receiving a notice from the Legal Metrology Department, you should always consider other legible alternatives.
How Do You Avoid The Legal Metrology Department?
The golden rule for avoiding punishment is to obey the law of the land. ELT Corporate believes in spreading awareness and education among our clients, so ELT experts have designed specialised training and seminars for its users. Furthermore, as a solution to the industry, we have developed a specialised professional system of Legal Metrology Audit, in which we perform a detailed exercise of understanding the applicability of various provisions of Legal Metrology Laws on client businesses and offer them customised solutions for the same.