The certificates were presented by Shri Pralhad Joshi, Union Cabinet Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and Minister of New & Renewable Energy, in the presence of Shri B. L. Verma, Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and Minister of State for Social Justice & Empowerment, on 24 December 2025.
Enhancing Legal Metrology and Consumer Protection
This initiative marks a transformative reform in India’s legal metrology system by expanding verification capacity beyond the public sector and enabling qualified private entities to participate. The program ensures accuracy and reliability in weights and measures used in trade and consumer transactions, while improving ease of doing business and regulatory efficiency.
The recognition of private entities as GATCs follows the amendment of the Legal Metrology (Government Approved Test Centre) Rules, 2013, notified on 23 October 2025. The amended rules allow private laboratories and industries meeting prescribed technical criteria to undertake verification and re-verification of weighing and measuring instruments, aligned with international best practices.
18 Categories of Instruments Now Covered
The amended GATC framework now covers 18 categories of instruments across sectors such as healthcare, transport, energy, infrastructure, and consumer services. Key instruments include:
- Water meters, energy meters, gas meters
- Flow meters, moisture meters
- Sphygmomanometers and clinical thermometers
- Breath analysers and vehicle speed meters
- Multi-dimensional measuring instruments
- Automatic rail weighbridges
- Tape measures, non-automatic weighing instruments
- Load cells, beam scales, counter machines
- Weights of all categories
Public–Private Partnership and Atmanirbhar Bharat
The Department of Consumer Affairs launched a dedicated online portal to process applications from eligible private entities for GATC recognition. This transparent, digital, and time-bound process facilitated faster approvals and improved service delivery.
By enabling private GATCs, accessibility to verification services will improve, turnaround time will reduce, and compliance for manufacturers, traders, and service providers will accelerate. Regular verification of consumer-facing instruments will minimize inaccuracies, ensure full consumer value, and strengthen marketplace trust.
This public-private partnership aligns with the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat, leveraging domestic technical capabilities and enabling private entities to contribute meaningfully to India’s verification network.
Building a Future-Ready Legal Metrology System
Alongside private GATCs, the recognition of Regional Reference Standard Laboratories (RRSLs) and National Test House (NTH) laboratories ensures a robust nationwide verification ecosystem. Decentralizing verification activities allows Legal Metrology Officers to focus on inspection, enforcement, and consumer grievance redressal.
These reforms demonstrate the government’s commitment to a scientific, technology-driven, and future-ready legal metrology system, aligned with international standards and best practices, reinforcing consumer confidence and regulatory efficiency.
