The Legal Metrology Act, 2009 governs weights, measures, and pre-packed goods across India. It protects consumers and keeps trade fair. For years, however, the law treated many minor lapses as criminal matters. Consequently, a technical labelling error could expose company officers to prosecution. Parliament has now changed that approach through India's Ease of Doing Business reform agenda.
The Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023 started the shift. Specifically, it decriminalised seven sections of the Legal Metrology Act and replaced imprisonment with monetary penalties in selected cases. Those amendments took effect on 1 October 2023. Furthermore, the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2026 deepened the reform. It introduced an "improvement notice" mechanism for first-time lapses. Therefore, regulators now ask businesses to correct errors before they impose punishment.
This article explains legal metrology decriminalisation in practical terms. In addition, it examines the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, outlines a legal metrology compliance roadmap, and shows how the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) supports industry. Legal heads, compliance officers, manufacturers, importers, and e-commerce operators will find concrete steps here. Importantly, trust-based governance does not mean softer standards. It means graduated consequences, and those consequences grow heavier with every repeat breach.
Decoding Legal Metrology Decriminalisation
From Imprisonment to Improvement Notices
Legal metrology decriminalisation works in two stages. First, the 2023 reform removed imprisonment from selected offences. Second, the 2026 reform added a warning step before any monetary penalty. Together, these stages create a graded enforcement ladder that rewards honest correction.
The 2023 amendments covered seven sections of the Legal Metrology Act. Commentators commonly associate the reform with provisions such as Sections 25, 27, 28, 29, 31, 34, and 35. These sections address non-standard weights and measures, record-keeping failures, and related technical lapses. Readers should confirm each section's current text on the India Code repository before they rely on it.
Section 25 illustrates the change. Before the reform, a second offence for using a non-standard weight or measure carried up to six months' imprisonment. Monetary consequences now replace that jail term. Similarly, Section 31 penalises failure to maintain or produce required records. Official material confirms that businesses previously faced immediate penalties for such failures, whereas the 2026 reform introduces a warning for the first contravention.
The 2026 Act, numbered Act 8 of 2026, goes further. According to published commentary, it rewrote the penalty clauses of fifteen sections. A first offence now draws a warning with an improvement notice. A second offence attracts a penalty that may extend to five lakh rupees. Subsequent offences attract fines between twenty-five lakh and fifty lakh rupees for packaged-commodity declaration breaches. One commentary dates this change from 1 May 2026, so businesses should verify the commencement notification in the Gazette.
In addition, Section 3 of the 2026 Act raises minimum fines and penalties by ten per cent every three years. Consequently, penalties will not lose their deterrent value over time. Finance and legal teams should therefore build this escalation into their annual risk reviews.
What Remains Punishable
Decriminalisation does not excuse deliberate wrongdoing. Repeat offenders face sharply higher penalties. Furthermore, the new second-offence and subsequent-offence figures often exceed the old fines. Therefore, companies should not read the reform as a reduction in financial risk.
Intentional consumer fraud also remains a serious matter. Deliberate tampering or knowingly false declarations invite stricter treatment than an honest oversight. Specifically, an improvement notice suits a genuine mistake, not a calculated deception. Officers enforcing the law still hold wide inspection powers, and consumers still hold the right to complain.
Critics raise one further point. Penalties for similar offences vary widely across different Acts, and some commentators argue that low fines weaken deterrence. The Legal Metrology Act offers a counterexample, because repeat-offence floors now run into lakhs of rupees. Businesses should therefore expect firm enforcement against habitual defaulters, even as the law treats first-time errors gently.
In practice, the reform separates three situations. A first, non-fraudulent lapse draws a warning and an improvement notice. A second lapse draws a monetary penalty. Repeated or intentional breaches draw heavy fines and closer scrutiny. Consequently, the quality of a company's first response often decides which situation it faces next.
Impact on Legal Metrology Packaged Commodities Rules
Mandatory Declarations Under Rule 6
The Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011] sit at the heart of this reform. Rule 6 prescribes what every pre-packed commodity must declare. Consequently, most improvement notices will concern these declarations.
Packers, manufacturers, and importers must show the name and address of the responsible entity and the common name of the commodity. They must also state the net quantity in standard units and the month and year of manufacture, packing, or import. In addition, the label must carry the maximum retail price, inclusive of all taxes, and the unit sale price where the rules require it. Finally, the pack must show the country of origin and consumer care details, such as a telephone number or email address. Missing any one item can trigger action. Therefore, a label audit should precede every product launch.
Pack Sizes and the Principal Display Panel
Earlier amendments omitted the Second Schedule, which had fixed standard pack sizes for many commodities. As a result, brands can now sell non-standard sizes in most categories. However, they must still declare the net quantity and unit sale price clearly. Moreover, the unit sale price helps shoppers compare products of different sizes.
The Principal Display Panel also matters. The rules require key declarations on that panel and link minimum character heights to pack size. Consequently, small-pack manufacturers should design labels around these limits from the start. A cluttered front panel often hides a mandatory declaration, and inspectors notice that quickly.
E-Commerce Mandates and Recent Amendments
E-commerce operators carry their own duties. The rules require platforms and sellers to show mandatory declarations on the product listing, so buyers see them before purchase. Furthermore, published commentary indicates that Section 36 now covers online sales of pre-packaged goods, with the same graded penalty structure.
Recent rule changes also deserve close attention. The Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Amendment Rules, 2025, notified in October 2025, let the Medical Devices Rules, 2017 govern label font size and dimensions for medical device packages. In addition, the Second Amendment Rules, 2025 take effect on 1 February 2026 and add a proviso that exempts pan masala from Rule 26(a). Moreover, the Ministry issued the Fourth Amendment Rules, 2026 on 21 September 2026, and companies should read the Gazette text closely.
Industry also discusses closer harmonisation with FSSAI labelling and electronic or QR-code declarations. However, businesses should treat these as developments to monitor. Until the Department of Consumer Affairs notifies final provisions, physical label declarations remain the safe course.
Strategic Legal Metrology Compliance for Businesses
A Practical Roadmap
Strong legal metrology compliance now depends on speed and documentation. An improvement notice gives a limited window to correct errors. Therefore, businesses need systems that detect problems before inspectors do.
Start by mapping every product against Rule 6 and recording its declaration status. Next, audit labels, outer cartons, and e-commerce listings together, because mismatches create liability. Then verify registrations and licences on the National Legal Metrology Portal, eMaap, and keep those records current. After that, send weighing and measuring instruments to Government Approved Test Centres for verification. Furthermore, train plant, warehouse, and procurement teams to report label errors immediately. Finally, create a notice-response protocol with a named owner and a fixed rectification deadline.
Manufacturers and packers should also control change management. Whenever a brand alters a recipe, pack size, price, or supplier, the label must change too. Consequently, a simple sign-off rule helps: no packaging release without a legal metrology check. Furthermore, regular internal audits catch drift early and give the company evidence of good faith.
Importers face added duties. They must declare their name and address, the country of origin, and the month and year of import. Moreover, they should verify foreign-manufacturer labels before goods reach the port, since relabelling after clearance costs time and money. Importers should also secure contractual commitments from overseas suppliers on label accuracy.
E-commerce sellers should confirm that every listing matches the physical pack. Marketplaces, in turn, should build mandatory-field checks into seller onboarding. Consequently, errors surface before a customer ever sees them.
Protecting Top Management
Section 49 deals with offences by companies. It lets a company nominate a person who bears responsibility for compliance. Consequently, the nomination helps shield other directors and senior officers from liability. Companies should therefore record nominations through a board resolution and update them after every leadership change. In addition, they should give the nominee real authority over labelling, packing, and quality decisions.
Compounding and Penalty Management
Compounding allows eligible offenders to settle certain violations by paying a sum instead of facing full proceedings. Furthermore, prompt rectification after a first notice may avoid the second-offence penalty altogether. Companies should therefore document every corrective step, including dated photographs of revised labels and batch records. Finally, finance teams should factor the ten per cent revision cycle into risk budgets.
The Role of PHDCCI in Regulatory Advocacy
The PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry represents Indian industry before policymakers. Through its Consumer Affairs, Law and Justice, and Retail committees, it channels member concerns to the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution. Visit the PHDCCI main portal for current committee activity, events, and publications.
PHDCCI advocacy focuses on practical issues. Specifically, it argues for simpler packaging norms for MSMEs and FMCG players. Furthermore, it seeks clear timelines for improvement notices and consistent enforcement across States. In addition, it hosts compliance workshops that help members interpret new notifications.
Members can also contribute data. For example, MSMEs can share the cost of label redesigns and the time lost to relabelling. Policymakers respond well to concrete evidence. Consequently, specific examples from the shop floor often influence rule drafting more than general complaints.
Therefore, companies should engage early. Stakeholder comments on draft rules shape the final text, as the 2025 draft consultations showed. Joining a PHDCCI committee gives smaller firms a stronger voice in that process.
Conclusion: Compliance as a Competitive Advantage
Legal metrology decriminalisation rewards businesses that act early. A first offence now invites correction, not prosecution. However, repeat breaches cost far more than before. Consequently, companies should audit labels, train teams, and document corrections today. In addition, they should track every notification from the Department of Consumer Affairs. Strong compliance protects consumers, safeguards directors, and builds lasting brand trust. Start today, because every single unchecked label carries avoidable legal risk.
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