India’s consumer protection regime took a major leap as private entities were formally inducted into legal metrology verification ecosystem.
New Delhi
The Union Government on Monday announced a significant milestone in reforming India’s legal metrology system, with the Department of Consumer Affairs awarding 12 Government Approved Test Centre (GATC) certificates to 11 private entities. The move is aimed at strengthening the country’s verification ecosystem for weights and measures through a structured public–private partnership framework, thereby enhancing accuracy, efficiency, and consumer trust in trade transactions.
According to the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, this initiative marks a transformative shift by expanding verification capacity beyond the public sector and enabling greater participation of technically qualified private laboratories and industries. The reform is expected to improve regulatory efficiency, promote ease of doing business, and ensure higher reliability in weights and measures used across markets.
The GATC certificates were formally presented by Pralhad Joshi, Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, in the presence of B. L. Verma, Minister of State for Consumer Affairs. Officials highlighted that the step reflects the government’s commitment to modernising regulatory frameworks in line with international best practices.
The recognition of private entities as GATCs follows the amendment of the Legal Metrology (Government Approved Test Centre) Rules, 2013, which was notified on October 23, 2025. Under the amended rules, the scope of GATCs has been significantly expanded, allowing eligible private entities that meet prescribed technical and infrastructural criteria to undertake verification and re-verification of weighing and measuring instruments.
The ministry noted that the updated framework now covers 18 categories of weighing and measuring instruments. This expansion reflects the government’s intent to address evolving technological and sectoral needs across critical domains such as healthcare, transport, energy, infrastructure, and consumer services. By decentralising verification services, the reform is expected to reduce turnaround time and enable faster compliance for manufacturers, traders, and service providers nationwide.