The Government has introduced the Improvement Notice Mechanism, under the Legal Metrology Act, 2009 through the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2026. Under the new mechanism, businesses committing specified first-time procedural or regulatory non-compliances will be given an opportunity to rectify the deficiency before penal proceedings are initiated.

 

The Ministry of Consumer Affairs said that the reform aims to promote Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) by encouraging voluntary compliance, reducing unnecessary litigation and supporting a more trust-based regulatory framework while maintaining strong consumer protection.

 

The Ministry highlighted that under the new mechanism, a Legal Metrology Officer can issue an Improvement Notice to businesses committing specified first-time procedural or regulatory violations, giving them reasonable time to correct the deficiencies. If the entity complies within the prescribed period, penal proceedings and litigation can be avoided.

 

However, failure to comply with the notice, repeated violations, fraud, tampering and other acts affecting consumer interests will continue to attract strict action under the Legal Metrology Act. The Ministry added that the mechanism applies to manufacturers, importers, packers, dealers, repairers, traders, MSMEs and other regulated entities.

 

It covers specified first-time procedural and regulatory non-compliances related to registration, documentation and record maintenance, model approval, manufacture, sale and repair of weights and measures, import of weights and measures, transactions and packaged commodities, and furnishing statutory information and returns.

 

The Ministry of Consumer Affairs further said the reform does not dilute consumer protection or weaken enforcement. It underlined that the initiative reflects the Government’s vision of ‘Minimum Government, Maximum Governance’ by reducing compliance burden, encouraging voluntary compliance and creating a transparent, predictable and business-friendly regulatory environment while safeguarding consumer interests.