The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution has introduced the Legal Metrology (Government Approved Test Centre) Amendment Rules, 2025, which will overhaul the verification and testing infrastructure for weights and measures across the country. These new rules, effective upon their publication on October 24, 2025, expand the scope of instruments requiring verification, mandate a substantial fee increase for test centre applications, and designate central government laboratories as approved testing centers.
The objective of the amendment is to enhance the reliability of metrological verification services by leveraging both Government Approved Test Centres (GATCs) and existing state laboratories.
Expanded Scope of Mandatory Verification
The First Schedule of the principal rules, which lists the weights and measures that must be verified by a GATC, has been significantly substituted and expanded to include a wide range of commercial, industrial, and medical devices.
The list of weights and measures now subject to mandatory verification by GATCs or legal metrology officers includes:
- Medical Devices: Sphygmomanometer and Clinical thermometer.
- Utility Meters: Water meter, Gas meters, and Energy meters.
- Transport and Safety: Speed meters for vehicles and Breath analyzers.
- Weighing and Measuring Instruments: Automatic rail weighbridges, Load cells, Beam scales, Counter machines, Tape measures, Weights of all categories, and Multi-dimensional measuring instruments.
Regulatory and Financial Changes for Test Centres
The amendment introduces several structural and financial changes to the approval and operation of GATCs:
Application Authority: Any person seeking recognition as a GATC must now submit their application directly to the Joint Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, instead of a state-level authority.
Inspection Mandate: The Director or authorized officers (and, if required, legal metrology officers of the concerned State Government) must inspect the premises of the test centre prior to making any recommendation for its approval.
Fee Increase: The fee required for seeking initial approval and subsequent renewal as a GATC has been drastically increased. A fee of rupees two lakh per weight or measure must now be deposited by the applicant. This same amount is payable upon annual renewal for each piece of equipment.
Integrating Central Government Laboratories
The new rules leverage existing central government infrastructure by formally designating its laboratories as approved test centers, significantly boosting national verification capacity:
All Regional Reference Standard Laboratories (RRSLs) functioning under the administrative control of the Department of Consumer Affairs shall be deemed to be Government Approved Test Centres (GATCs).
Laboratories of the National Test House functioning under the Department of Consumer Affairs shall also be deemed to be Government Approved Test Centres (GATCs).
These designated laboratories are authorized to verify the weights and measures specified under the Legal Metrology (General) Rules, 2011, or per the recommendations of the International Organization of Legal Metrology (OIML), at any location within India.
The rules also insert a new Fifth Schedule detailing the maximum fee payable to GATCs for verification and re-verification services.