The Department of Consumer Affairs vide the Notification dated 02 November 2021 (‘Notification’) has made amendments under the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2009 (‘LMPC Rules’). Key aspects of the amendments in the LMPC Rules are summarized hereinbelow:

• Definition of ‘Consumer’ in the Rule 2 of the LMPC Rules has borrowed the meaning from the latest definition of ‘Consumer’ as per the new Consumer Protection Act, 2019. Similar change has been made under Rule 18(7) to govern the retailers covered under ‘Goods and Services Tax’ rather than the erstwhile Value Added Tax
• A new sub-rule Rule 4(2) has been inserted which provides that: in the event, more than one packages are bundled together bound for retail sale on promotional offer, each of such packages must comply with the declarations mentioned under Rule 6 of LMPC Rules
• Rule 5 of LMPC Rules, which provided for standard size for certain commodities under Schedule II i.e., specified quantities of weight, measure and number, has been omitted. There is no further need to abide by such requirements
• Following amendments have been made under Rule 6 of the LMPC Rules:

1. Requirement for mentioning the month and year in which a commodity is pre-packed or imported, has been removed. After this amendment, there is only a requirement to mention the month and year of the manufacture of the commodity
2. Mode of declaration of the maximum retail price (‘MRP’) has been simplified and the illustration provided for declaration of MRP inclusive of all taxes under Rule 6(e) have been removed. The amended Rule now only provides for declaration of MRP in Indian currency
3. New requirement of declaring the unit sale price of pre-packaged commodities on the basis of per g, per kg, per cm, per m, per number, per ml and per litre have been notified. This requirement would be applicable depending upon the sale of the commodity as per quantity, size, number or volume
4. The requirement for mentioning the symbol ‘N’ or ‘U’ for items being sold by number has been removed. As per the amended Rule, the number of unit, piece, pair, set or such other word representing the quantity in the package being sold, shall be mentioned

The above amendments in the LMPC Rules shall come into effect from 01 April 2022.