Background:
The Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011 were framed under the Legal Metrology Act, 2009 and came into effect on 1st April 2011. These Rules were introduced by the Central Government with the objective of protecting consumers’ interests and ensuring transparency in the sale of pre-packaged goods. Before these Rules, there were inconsistencies in how product information was declared on packages, often leading to misleading practices in weights, measures, and pricing. The Rules were thus designed to bring uniformity and fairness in trade by prescribing clear standards for labeling and packaging. Over time, the Rules have been amended—most notably in 2017 and 2022—to align with market developments, enhance consumer awareness, and simplify compliance for businesses through digital and standardized declarations.
Applicability:
Compliance Requirements under the Rules
On and from the commencement of these rules, no person shall prepack or cause or permit to be pre-packed any commodity for sale, distribution or delivery unless the package in which the commodity is pre-packed bears thereon, or on a label is securely affixed thereto, such declarations as are required to be made under these rules.
The provisions of this Chapter shall not apply to,-
(a) packages of commodities containing quantity of more than 25 kg or 25 litre
(b) cement, fertilizer, agricultural farm produce sold in bags above 50 kg
(c) packaged commodities meant for industrial consumers or institutional consumers.
The existence of packages without the declaration of retail sale price within the manufacturer’s premises shall not be construed as a violation of these rules and it shall be ensured that all packages leaving the premises of manufacturer for their destination shall have declaration of retail sale price on them as required in this rule.
When one or more packages intended for retail sale are grouped together for being sold as a retail package on promotional offer, every package of the group shall comply with provisions of rule 6
The provisions of this Chapter shall not apply to,-
(a) packages of commodities containing quantity of more than 25 kg or 25 litre
(b) cement, fertilizer, agricultural farm produce sold in bags above 50 kg
(c) packaged commodities meant for industrial consumers or institutional consumers.
The commodities specified in the Second Schedule shall be packed for sale, distribution or delivery in such standard quantities as are specified in that Schedule
(a) packages of commodities containing quantity of more than 25 kg or 25 litre
(b) cement, fertilizer, agricultural farm produce sold in bags above 50 kg
(c) packaged commodities meant for industrial consumers or institutional consumers.
2. If the Competent Authority under the Essential Commodity Act, 1955 fixed and notified the standard quantity of any essential
commodity, the standard quantity of such essential commodities as fixed and notified shall prevail
3. When one or more packages intended for retail sale are grouped together for being sold as a retail ackage on promotional offer,
every package of the group shall comply with provisions of rule 6.
4. Notwithstanding anything contained in the Second Schedule, manufacturer or importer may sell the value based package in terms of
Rs.1, Rs. 2, Rs. 3, Rs. 4, Rs. 5, Rs. 6, Rs. 7, Rs. 8, Rs. 9 and Rs.10 after making the other declarations specified in rule 6
Every package shall bear thereon or on label securely affixed thereto, a definite, plain and conspicuous declaration made in accordance with the provisions of this chapter as, to-
a) name & address of manufacturer,packer,importer
b) country of origin/manufacture/assembly in case of imported products
c) common/generic name of the commodity and in case of packages with more than one product, the name and number or quantity of each product shall be mentioned on the package
d) net quantity in terms of the standard unit of weight or measure of the commodity contained in the package or where the commodity is packed or sold by number, the number of the commodity contained in the package shall be mentioned
e) month & year of manufacture
f) If a package contains a commodity which may become unfit for human consumption after a period of time, the best before or use by the date, month and year shall also be mentioned on the label
g) retail sale price
h) size/dimension
i) any other matter as specified
1)Prov do not apply to Packages having more than 25 kg/lt,cement,fertilizer,agri farm produce above 50 kg & Packaged commodities for industrial/institutional consumers
2)If label shows company’s name & address without qualifiers like ‘manufactured/packed by,’ it is presumed to be manufacturer’s & liability is determined acc.
3)If brand owner’s name & address appear as marketer, they will be responsible for violations, targeting first manufacturer listed in case of multiple names
4)Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 applies to food articles
5)For packages containing cosmetics products, provisions of the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945 shall apply
6)State Excise Laws govern alcoholic beverages/spirituous liquor in manuf state. If they do not require retail price declaration, rules here apply
7)The month and the year in which commodity is pre—packed may be expressed either in words, or by numerals indicating the month and year, or by both
Every package shall bear the name, address, telephone number, E-mail address, if available, of the person who can be or the office which can be, contacted, in case of consumer complaints.
The provisions of this Chapter shall not apply to,-
(a) packages of commodities containing quantity of more than 25 kg or 25 litre
(b) cement, fertilizer, agricultural farm produce sold in bags above 50 kg
(c) packaged commodities meant for industrial consumers or institutional consumers.
It shall not be permissible to affix individual stickers on the package for altering or making declaration required under these rules
(a) packages of commodities containing quantity of more than 25 kg or 25 litre
(b) cement, fertilizer, agricultural farm produce sold in bags above 50 kg
(c) packaged commodities meant for industrial consumers or institutional consumers.
Where a commodity consists of a number of components and these components are packed in two or more units, for sale as a single commodity, the declaration required to be made under sub-rule (1) shall appear on the main package and such package shall also carry information about the other accompanying packages or such declaration may be given on individual packages and intimation to that effect may be given on the main package and if the components are sold as spare parts, all declarations shall be given on each package.
The provisions of this Chapter shall not apply to,-
(a) packages of commodities containing quantity of more than 25 kg or 25 litre
(b) cement, fertilizer, agricultural farm produce sold in bags above 50 kg
(c) packaged commodities meant for industrial consumers or institutional consumers.
Any packaging material or wrapper which could not be exhausted by the manufacturer or packer may be used for packing of the material [up to 31st March, 2012] or till such date the packaging material of wrapper is exhausted, whichever is earlier, after making the corrections required under these rules by way of stamping or putting sticker or online printing, as the case may be.
The unit sale price in rupees, rounded off to the nearest two decimal place, shall be declared on every pre-packaged commodities in the following manner, namely:-
(i) per gram where net quantity is less than one kilogram and per kilogram where net quantity is more than one kilogram;
(ii) per centimetre where net length is less than one metre and per metre where net length is more than one metre;
(iii) per millilitre where net volume is less than one litre and per litre where net volume is more than one litre;
(iv) per number or unit if any item is sold by number or unit:
2. Declaration of unit sale price is not required for the pre-packaged commodities in which retail sale price is equal to the unit sale price.
3. Declaration of unit sale price is not required for a combination package or a group package or a multi-piece package, under these rules or
under any other law for the time being in force.
4. The provisions of this Chapter shall not apply to,-
(a) packages of commodities containing quantity of more than 25 kg or 25 litre
(b) cement, fertilizer, agricultural farm produce sold in bags above 50 kg
(c) packaged commodities meant for industrial consumers or institutional consumers.
Every package containing the genetically modified food shall bear at the top of its principal display panel the words “GM”
The provisions of this Chapter shall not apply to,-
(a) packages of commodities containing quantity of more than 25 kg or 25 litre
(b) cement, fertilizer, agricultural farm produce sold in bags above 50 kg
(c) packaged commodities meant for industrial consumers or institutional consumers.
Every package containing soap, shampoos, tooth pastes and other cosmetics and toiletries shall bear at the top of its principal display panel a red or as the case may be, brown dot for products of non-vegetarian origin and a green dot products of vegetarian origin
The provisions of this Chapter shall not apply to,-
(a) packages of commodities containing quantity of more than 25 kg or 25 litre
(b) cement, fertilizer, agricultural farm produce sold in bags above 50 kg
(c) packaged commodities meant for industrial consumers or institutional consumers.
An E-Commerce entity shall ensure that the mandatory declaration as specified in Rule 6 (1), except the month and year in which the commodity is manufactured or packed, shall be displayed on the digital and electronic network used for ecommerce transactions
In the case of a package having a capacity of [ten cubic centimetres or less], the principal display panel may be a card or tape affixed firmly to the package and shall bear the required information.
(a) packages of commodities containing quantity of more than 25 kg or 25 litre
(b) cement, fertilizer, agricultural farm produce sold in bags above 50 kg
(c) packaged commodities meant for industrial consumers or institutional consumers.
Every declaration required to be made hereunder shall appear on the principal display panel.
(a) above and below by a space equal to at least the height of the numeral in the declaration, and
(b) to the left and right by a space at least twice the height of numeral in the declaration.
2. For soft drink, ready to serve fruit beverages or the like, the bottle which is returnable by the consumer for being refilled, the retail
sale price may be indicated either on the crown cap, or on the bottle or on both and if the retail sale price is indicated on the crown cap or the bottle, it is sufficient to indicate the retail sale price in the form of ‘MRP Rs…./?……’.
3. The provisions of this Chapter shall not apply to,-
(a) packages of commodities containing quantity of more than 25 kg or 25 litre
(b) cement, fertilizer, agricultural farm produce sold in bags above 50 kg
(c) packaged commodities meant for industrial consumers or institutional consumers.
Every declaration which is required to be made on a package under these rules shall be-
(a) legible and prominent;
(b) numerals of the retail sale price and net quantity declaration shall be printed, painted or inscribed on the package in a colour that contrasts conspicuously with the background of the label
b) Handwritten or hand-scripted declarations must be clear and legible.
2. Declarations should not require reading through liquid inside the package.
3. Outer containers/wrappers must display all required declarations unless transparent and the inner package’s declarations are
readable. If the outer package has all required information, the inner package need not have declarations.
4. Declarations must be in Hindi (Devanagari script) or English, but other languages may be used in addition to Hindi/English.
5. The provisions of this Chapter shall not apply to,-
(a) packages of commodities containing quantity of more than 25 kg or 25 litre
(b) cement, fertilizer, agricultural farm produce sold in bags above 50 kg
(c) packaged commodities meant for industrial consumers or institutional consumers.
Every package shall bear thereon or on label securely affixed thereto, a definite, plain and conspicuous declaration made in accordance with the provisions of this chapter as, to name & address of manufacturer,packer,importer as provided in Rule 6
1) Further detailed provisions in this regard are stipulated in Rule 10 of Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules,2011
2) The provisions of this Chapter shall not apply to,-
(a) packages of commodities containing quantity of more than 25 kg or 25 litre
(b) cement, fertilizer, agricultural farm produce sold in bags above 50 kg
(c) packaged commodities meant for industrial consumers or institutional consumers.
In declaring the net quantity of the commodity contained in a package, the weight of wrappers and materials other than the commodity shall be excluded
The declaration of quantity shall be expressed in terms of such unit of weight, measure or number or a combination of weight, measure or number as would give an accurate and adequate information to the consumer with regard to the quantity of the commodity contained in the package
1)Further detailed provisions in this regard are stipulated in Rule 12 of Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules,2011
2) The provisions of this Chapter shall not apply to,-
(a) packages of commodities containing quantity of more than 25 kg or 25 litre
(b) cement, fertilizer, agricultural farm produce sold in bags above 50 kg
(c) packaged commodities meant for industrial consumers or institutional consumers.
Statement of units of weight, measure or number shall be specified on the package in compliance with Rule 13 of the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules,2011
1)Further detailed provisions in this regard are stipulated in Rule 13 of Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules,2011 as amended in 2021
2) The provisions of this Chapter shall not apply to,-
(a) packages of commodities containing quantity of more than 25 kg or 25 litre
(b) cement, fertilizer, agricultural farm produce sold in bags above 50 kg
(c) packaged commodities meant for industrial consumers or institutional consumers.
Where a package contains commodities like bed-sheets, hemmed fabric materials, dhotis, sarees, napkins, pillow-covers, towels, table cloths or similar other commodities, the number and the dimensions of finished size of such commodities shall also be declared on the package or on the label affixed thereto
(a) packages of commodities containing quantity of more than 25 kg or 25 litre
(b) cement, fertilizer, agricultural farm produce sold in bags above 50 kg
(c) packaged commodities meant for industrial consumers or institutional consumers.
Where the dimensions and weight, or combination thereof, of a commodity has or have a relationship to the price of that commodity, the declaration of quantity on the package containing such commodity, shall also include a declaration as to such dimensions, weight or combination.
The provisions of this Chapter shall not apply to,-
(a) packages of commodities containing quantity of more than 25 kg or 25 litre
(b) cement, fertilizer, agricultural farm produce sold in bags above 50 kg
(c) packaged commodities meant for industrial consumers or institutional consumers.
In the case of a package containing sheets like aluminium foil, facial tissues, waxed paper, toilet paper or any other type of sheet, the declaration of quantity on the package shall also include a statement as to the number of usable sheets contained in the package and the dimensions of each such sheet
The provisions of this Chapter shall not apply to,-
(a) packages of commodities containing quantity of more than 25 kg or 25 litre
(b) cement, fertilizer, agricultural farm produce sold in bags above 50 kg
(c) packaged commodities meant for industrial consumers or institutional consumers.
The commodities shall be expressed as bags, boxes, cups, pan or the like designed and sold in retail trade for being used as containers for other materials or objects and shall be labelled with the declaration of quantity
Declaration shall be as:
(i) for bag-type commodities, number of bags which package may contain, followed by linear dimensions of the bags, whether packaged in a perforated roll or otherwise; –
(ii) for square, oblong, rectangular or similarly shaped containers, number of containers which the package may contain, followed by length, width, and if required, depth of the container;
(iii) for circular or generally round-shaped containers, not being cups like number of commodities contained therein followed by diameter and, if necessary, depth of the container;
(iv) When a container’s use is linked by label references to its capacity to hold a specific quantity, this must be included in the quantity declaration Provisions of this Chapter shall not apply to,-
(a) packages of commodities containing quantity of more than 25 kg or 25 litre
(b) cement, fertilizer, agricultural farm produce sold in bags above 50 kg
(c) packaged commodities meant for industrial consumers or institutional consumers.
Every wholesale package shall bear thereon a legible, definite, plain and conspicuous declaration as to-
(a) The name and address of the manufacturer or importer or where the manufacturer or importer is not the packer, of the packer;
(b) the identity of the commodity contained in the package; and
(c) the total number of retail package contained in such wholesale package or the net quantity in terms of standard units of weights, measures or number of the commodity contained in wholesale package
Nothing in this rule shall apply in relation to a wholesale package if a declaration similar to the declarations specified in this rule, is required to be made on such wholesale packages by or under any other law for the time being in force.
An export package shall not be sold in India unless the manufacturer or packer has re—packed or relabelled the commodity in accordance with the provisions contained in Chapter II, and where any export package is sold in India without such re-packing or re-labelling, such package shall be liable to be seized in accordance with the provisions of the Act.
An export package cannot be sold in India unless it is re-packed or re-labelled per Chapter II. If sold without this, the package is subject to seizure under the Act.
Nothing contained in rules shall apply to any package containing a commodity if it contains loose commodities ordered through e-commerce channels, where consumers are aware of the ordered commodity, its type and quantity
Provided that such commodities shall bear the following information, namely:-
(i) name and address of manufacturer or marketer or brand owner or importer or seller with the country of origin or manufacture in the case of imported products;
(ii) consumer care email id and phone number;
(iii) retail sale price of the package inclusive of all taxes in the Indian currency; and
(iv) net quantity, in terms of the standard unit of weight or measure, or where the commodity is sold by number, the number of the commodity.
Every individual, firm, Hindu undivided family, society, company or corporation who or which pre-packs or imports any commodity for sale, distribution or delivery shall make an application, accompanied by a fee of rupees five hundred, to the Director or the Controller for the registration of his or its name and complete address and every such application shall be made within ninety days from the date on which he or it commences such pre—packing
Business entities required to obtain LMPC certificate are:
a) Importers of packaged commodities
b) Importers of weights and measures
c) Manufacturers of packaged commodities
d) Packers of commodities
e) Dealers of weights and measures
f) Repairers of weights and measures
Any advertisement mentioning the retail sale price of the pre-packaged commodity shall contain a declaration as to the net quantity or number of the commodity contained in the package
The font size of the net quantity in the advertisement shall be same as that of retail sale price.
Penalty & Punishment
Whoever contravenes any provision of these rules, for which no punishment is provided, shall be punished with fine of five thousand rupees