The Legal Metrology Division of the Department of Consumer Affairs ("Ministry") on 12th July 2020, issued a consultation paper proposing decriminalisation of Legal Metrology Act, 2009 (“Act”).
As per the current provisions of the Act, punishment ranges from imprisonment for a period of 6 months to one year for a second-time or subsequent offenders, the imprisonment may or may not be accompanied by a fine.
The rationale behind reviewing existing penalties for subsequent offences and proposing such amendments is that, it is not necessary that the offence involves a mala fide intent and the offence does not adversely affect the public interest at large.
The amendments proposed do away with imprisonment as a punishment and have imposed fines ranging from 1 Lakh up to 10 Lakhs.
The draft document seeks comments and suggestions which may be submitted to the Ministry within a period of 30 days from issuance of the notice.