India Expands Verification Infrastructure for Weights and Measures, Adds New Fuel Systems

The Centre has amended the Legal Metrology (Government Approved Test Centre) Rules, 2013, to expand verification infrastructure for weights and measures. Five new fuel dispensing systems, including CNG, LNG, and hydrogen, have been added to the GATC framework. This move aims to enhance verification services, improve efficiency, and support the adoption of cleaner fuels across India.

The Centre on Sunday announced amendments in the Legal Metrology (Government Approved Test Centre) Rules, 2013, to strengthen India’s legal metrology ecosystem and expand the country’s verification infrastructure for weights and measures. It has added five new fuel dispensing systems under the GATC framework, which include CNG, LNG and hydrogen dispensers.

"A key feature of the amendment is the expansion of the scope of GATCs to include verification and re-verification of additional fuel dispensing systems," the Department of Consumer Affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution said in a release.

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The move is expected to enhance the availability of verification services, improve efficiency and support the growing adoption of cleaner fuels across India.

Under the amended rules, the government has added the following five categories of dispensing systems to the list of instruments that can be verified by GATCs:

Petrol/Diesel Dispensers

CNG Dispensers

LPG Dispensers

LNG Dispensers

Hydrogen Dispensers

GATCs can now undertake verification and re-verification of a total of 23 categories of weights and measures under the Legal Metrology framework.

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The department noted that the inclusion of CNG, LNG and Hydrogen dispensers under the GATC framework comes at a time when the use of cleaner fuels is increasing across the country. The step will help ensure accurate fuel delivery and greater transparency in transactions.

Verification Fees Amended

Under the new rules, the verification fee for petrol and diesel dispensers has been fixed at Rs 5,000 per nozzle, while the fee for CNG, LPG, LNG and Hydrogen dispensers has been fixed at Rs 10,000 per nozzle.

The department asserted that the reforms will also enable State Legal Metrology Departments to focus more on inspection, enforcement and consumer grievance redressal.

What are GATCs?

GATCs are government-approved facilities that possess the required infrastructure and technical expertise to undertake verification and re-verification of specified weights and measures under the Legal Metrology Act and Rules. The GATC framework helps expand the country's verification capacity and improve access to verification services by involving qualified private laboratories and industries

These establishments play an important role in providing timely and reliable verification services for weighing and measuring instruments across the country. The expanded scope is expected to further strengthen India's verification infrastructure, improve service delivery and reduce delays.

The amendments announced on Sunday empower the state governments to notify additional categories of weights and measures for verification through the centres. The move is expected to assist in expanding verification services based on local requirements.

"To improve administrative efficiency, officers of the rank of Joint Secretary and above have also been authorised to exercise powers under relevant provisions of the Rules, enabling quicker processing of approvals and related matters," the release said.