Govt Revises Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011: Details Inside

The Department of Consumer Affairs under the supervision of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution has amended the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules 2011 and it now may be called as Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Amendment Rules, 2021. These rules shall come into force on the 1st day of April, 2022. "A new provision has been introduced to indicate the unit sale price on pre-packed commodities, which will allow easier comparison of the prices of the commodities at the time of purchase" the department has said.

The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution has said in a statement that "To safeguard the interest of consumers, the Department of Consumer Affairs under Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution has omitted the Rule 5 of the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities), Rules 2011 defining the Schedule II prescribing the pack sizes of various types of commodities. "

Previously, the package had to state the month and year in which the product was made, pre-packed, or imported. To clear up this misunderstanding, officials from industry and organisations have been addressed. For prepacked goods, the disclosure of date has now been confined to the month and year in which the product is made, decreasing compliance burden and eliminating the uncertainty of date declaration for customers.

The Department of Consumer Affairs has also clarified that "The provisions of declarations of MRP has been simplified by removing illustration and providing for making the mandatory declaration of MRP in Indian currency inclusive of all taxes. This has allowed the manufacturer/packer/importer to declare the MRP on the pre-packed commodities in a simplified manner."

The rules for listing pre-packaged goods in numbers have been simplified to make it easier for manufacturers, importers, and packers to comply. Previously, such claims could only be signified by the letters 'N' or 'U.' Now the amounts can be described as a number, unit, piece, pair, set, or any other word that describes the quantity of the package. This will eliminate the uncertainty surrounding the reporting of the amount sold by number in prepackaged goods. For items sold by number, the number or unit or piece or pair or set or such other word which represents the quantity in the package shall be mentioned.

Now the unit sale price shall be declared as:

(i) -Rs.__ per g‖ for pre-packaged commodities with net quantity of commodity less than one kilogram;
(ii) -Rs.__ per kg‖ for pre-packaged commodities with net quantity of commodity more or equal to one kilogram;
(iii) -Rs.__ per cm‖ for pre-packaged commodities with net length of the commodity less than one meter;
(iv) -Rs.__ per meter‖ for pre-packaged commodities with net length of the commodity more or equal to one meter;
(v) -Rs.__ per number‖;
(vi) -Rs.__ per ml‖ for pre-packaged commodities with net volume of the commodity less than one litre;
(vii) -Rs.__ per litre‖ for pre-packaged commodities with net volume of the commodity more or equal to one litre.