The government has amended the Legal Metrology (Government Approved Test Centre) Rules, 2013, to expand India's verification infrastructure for weights and measures. According to reports from Zee News, this move is designed to strengthen India's legal metrology ecosystem and support the growing adoption of cleaner fuels across the country. The amendments empower state governments to notify additional categories of weights and measures for verification through GATCs under their respective Rules.
The key feature of the amendment is the expansion of government-approved test centres (GATCs) to include verification and re-verification of additional fuel dispensing systems. As reported by Zee News, under the amended rules, five categories of dispensing systems have been added to the list of instruments that can be verified by GATCs: Petrol/Diesel Dispensers, CNG Dispensers, LPG Dispensers, LNG Dispensers, and Hydrogen Dispensers. With this inclusion, GATCs can now undertake verification and re-verification of a total of 23 categories of weights and measures under the Legal Metrology framework.
The government has established a verification fee structure of ₹5,000 per nozzle for petrol and diesel dispensers, while the fee for CNG, LPG, LNG and Hydrogen dispensers has been fixed at ₹10,000 per nozzle. According to the Department of Consumer Affairs statement reported by Zee News, GATCs are approved facilities with 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 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. As reported by Zee News, the measure will help ensure accurate fuel delivery and greater transparency in transactions. By involving qualified private laboratories and industries, the GATC framework helps expand the country's verification capacity and improve access to verification services.
