Centre amends the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules 2011 for ease of doing business and reducing the compliance burden for the electronic industries
The amendment to allow the industry to declare the information in the digital form through the QR Code
The Department of Consumer Affairs vide the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities), (Second Amendment) Rules 2022 has allowed the electronic products to declare certain mandatory declarations through the QR Code for a period of one year, if not declared in the package itself.
This amendment will allow the industry to declare the elaborated information in the digital form through the QR Code. It will allow important declarations to be declared effectively on the label in the package while the other descriptive information can be conveyed to the Consumer through the QR Code.
The Department to enable greater use of technology in this digital era to declare the mandatory declaration through the QR Code which can be scanned to view the declarations like address of the manufacturer or packer or importer, the common or generic name of the commodity, the size and dimension of the commodity& customer care details except the telephone number & e-mail address.
Earlier, all the prepackaged commodities including the electronic products are required to declare all the mandatory declarations as per the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities), Rules 2011 on the package.
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MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
(Department of Consumer Affairs)
NOTIFICATION
New Delhi, 14th July, 2022
G.S.R. 577(E).—In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1), read with clauses (j) and (q) of sub-section (2), of section 52 of the Legal Metrology Act, 2009 (1 of 2010), the Central Government hereby makes the following rules further to amend the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011, namely:-
1. (1) These rules may be called the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) (Second Amendment) Rules, 2022.
(2) They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.
2. In the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011, in rule 6,-
(a) in sub-rule (1),-
(i) in clause (a), before Explanation I, the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:-
“Provided that in the case of an electronic product which is manufactured or packed or imported after the 15th July, 2022, the package of such product shall, for a period of one year from such date, declare the name of the manufacturer or packer or importer, as the case may be, on the package itself and such declaration shall also inform the consumers to scan the QR code for the address and other related information in case such information is declared through the QR Code and not declared on the package itself;’
(ii) in clause (b), the following proviso shall be inserted , namely:-
“Provided that in the case of an electronic product which is manufactured or packed or imported after the 15th July, 2022, the package of such product shall, for a period of one year from such date, inform the consumers to scan the QR code for the common or generic name of the commodity and where such package contains more than one product, then for the name and number or quantity of each product, in case such information is declared through the QR Code and not declared on the package itself”;
(iii) in clause (f), the following proviso shall be inserted , namely:-
“Provided that in the case of an electronic product which is manufactured or packed or imported after the 15th July, 2022, the package of such product shall, for a period of one year from such date, inform the consumers to scan the QR code for the size and dimension of the commodity, in case such information is declared through the QR Code and not declared on the package itself”;
(b) in sub-rule (2), the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:-
“Provided that in the case of electronic product, which are manufactured or packed or imported after the 15th July, 2022, the package of such product shall, for a period of one year from such date, declare the telephone number and e-mail address, on the package itself and such declaration shall also inform the consumers to scan the QR code for other related information in case such information is declared through the QR Code and not declared on the package itself.”.
[F. No. I-12/21/2020-W&M]
ANUPAM MISHRA, Jt. Secy.
Note : The principal rules were published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, Sub-section (i) vide G.S.R. number 202 (E), dated the 7th March, 2011 and was last amended vide notification number G.S.R. 226 (E), dated the 28th March, 2022.
